Sin City Sinners
by My-Bella
Summary: Off shoot of My First Year as a Cullen. Edward, Emmett & Jasper head to Vegas for brotherly bonding. The City of Lights has no clue what's about to hit! Rated M for questionable language.
1. VegasBound Emmett

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creations of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: By popular request from the loyal reviewers of ****My First Year as a Cullen****, I bring to you ****Sin City Sinners****, the inside story of the Boys' Vegas Trip. Please bare with me as I am in the process of writing it and may not be able to update as quickly as I do for First Year. Please be sure to let me know if I do a good job with the POVs. This is the first time I try to write from Emmett and Jasper's POVs. I'm not worried at all about Edward's. With that said … Happy Reading!!!** P.S. Thanks to Jexena for the wonderful story name!

**Vegas Bound**

EMMETT:

"_A little less conversation, a little more action please - All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me - A little more bite and a little less bark - A little less fight and a little more spark_," I sang to the me in the mirror as I brushed my damp hair. I could see Rose rolling her eyes as she messed with my suitcase. I spun around and smiled a toothy grin for her. "Come on, Rosie! You know you _love_ my Elvis impersonations."

"If that's what you believe," Rose sighed.

"What are you doing with my stuff anyway? I packed it all last night."

"I removed all the sparkly and furry things."

"But why?" I whined.

"Do you want Edward and Jasper to burn them?"

"They probably would," I chuckled. "Did Alice rat me out again?"

"Of course. She told them how you were going to drag them to an Elvis show and then jump on stage and perform with the scheduled entertainer."

"Damn psychic sister!" I grumbled.

"Emmie, don't be that way," Rose purred, leaning heavily against me and twirling a finger in my hair. "You know Alice was only trying to keep you out of jail."

"Yeah, sure," I sighed. "But a human jail might have been fun!"

"I'll make you a deal," Rose whispered into my ear. "Behave yourself and when you get back, we'll play a little jailhouse rock with each other."

I smiled as I pictured what that would be like.

"EMMETT!" Edward screamed across the house.

"Sorry," I chuckled, not really feeling that way.

"I know you're not really sorry," Edward yelled from the other side of my bedroom door. "Could you just finish packing and get downstairs? Jazz and I are ready to leave."

"Sure thing," I told him.

I grabbed my bag and Rose's hand and we made our way downstairs. Edward and Jasper were both hugging their girls. I worried about Picky the most. She hadn't been away from Edward in a long time and she was so tender hearted. I hoped the trip wouldn't be too hard on her. She certainly had her brave face on as Edward pulled away from her. I could see in his face that he had mixed feelings about the trip. We fought a lot of the time, but I loved my younger brother very much. Bella had brought out all the best parts of him that he'd been trying so hard to hide from us.

"Let's get this party started!" I boomed across the living room, hoping to break up the sadness of leaving our mates.

Picky laughed just like I knew she would. She was infectious and she set Alice and Rose off right on cue. Jasper smiled and nodded at me. He had probably been having trouble lightening the mood by himself.

"I'll call you every night," Edward told Bella, holding her hands tightly.

"I know," she said, smiling up at him.

Jasper and Alice weren't speaking, but I knew they were basically telling each other the same thing with their eyes. I pulled Rose over to me and playfully growled at her. "I'm gonna miss you, my hot little mamma!"

"No you won't," she teased. "You'll be too busy gambling and checking out the hot Vegas chicks."

"I only agree to the gambling!" I chuckled. "You won't be in Vegas with me so the hot chick thing isn't possible. You make sure you rest up over the next four days for when I get home." I winked at her and she smiled coyly.

"Emmett," Edward warned as my thoughts began to focus on my homecoming.

"Sorry, Eddie," I chuckled. "Just saying goodbye to the wife." I kissed her cheek and whispered softly, "I love you, Rosie. I'll be home soon." She nodded and playfully pushed me away. My Rose always liked to be the strong, stoic one. Only I knew just how much of a softy she really was. And I would never let on to the others that I knew any different.

"Boys," Carlisle called as the three of us stood at the front door. We turned and faced our father. "I expect you all to be on your best behavior. I do not want to have to go down there and bail anyone out … Emmett."

"And why am I the one getting singled out in that sentence?" I asked with a huff. My entire family was chuckling at me. I smiled. I knew why. "Fair enough. I promise."

"Have a nice trip!" Esme said, hugging the three of us. "Drive carefully."

Jasper opened the door and waved one last time to Alice before stepping out onto the porch. Edward gave Bella a small smile and practically ran out of the door. I hoped he would get himself under control quickly. It would be a long ride if he made Jazz feel his anxiety of leaving the Squirt. I winked at Rosie.

"Girls, we'll be home before you know it! Start thinking of ways to welcome us home!" I said with a chuckle as I shut the door.

Edward was in the Volvo with the engine revving when I came around the side of the house. I added my bag to the open trunk and slid into the front seat next to Ed. I had won the coin toss for shotgun on the way up. I hated riding in the back unless I was with Rose. I smiled cheekily thinking about the last time I was in the Volvo with Rosie.

"Emmett, if you're going to think like that the entire trip, then I'm staying home," Edward snarled as he sped down the driveway.

"First of all, I can't help it sometimes. Secondly, you're looking for an excuse to stay and I'm not letting you. You need to spend some time with your brothers. Bella is perfectly safe. She's with Rose and Alice, two of the fiercest women we know. And Carlisle and Esme will be around too," I informed him.

"Just try to block your thoughts if you're going to think those things," Edward sighed. He pulled out onto the highway and we sped toward Anchorage to catch our plane. We had thought about driving, but it would add days to the trip and none of us really wanted to stay away from the girls any extra.

I started messing with the stereo, trying to find a good station. "No country," Edward warned.

"I know, I know! You don't have to tell me that every time I'm near something that plays music. I'm a vampire for God's sake! I can't forget how much you hate country," I said, rolling my eyes. "I wished Bella liked country. I bet that would get you to give it a chance."

Edward laughed loud and long. "I may love Bella more than life itself, but I wouldn't listen to country for her either."

"Oh, yeah! What if her life depended on it?" I teased. Edward's face turned to that stone façade we all hated. I tried to figure out his change in mood. I shrugged, not having a clue. "Ed, I was just teasing. I didn't mean anything by it."

"I know," he said quietly.

"What's wrong with you? Bella's one of us now! What the hell are you so worked up about?" I asked, a little miffed. Sometimes, I wondered if he wouldn't be able to worry himself to death over her.

"You don't know what today is, do you?" He questioned, turning to face me.

"June fifteenth," I replied, still confused. "So?"

"Emmett," Jasper called from the backseat. "Think about it."

I sat quietly for a minute or two. What's so important about today? It's no one's birthday. It's not a wedding anniversary for anyone. I don't think any of us were changed today. What had happened on this day? And then it clicked into place.

"Exactly," Edward sighed.

"Edward, I totally forgot," I apologized.

"I know, Emmett," he replied with a small smile. "It's harder for me to forget. I know she's at home, perfectly safe, but part of me wants to turn around and make absolutely sure."

"She's spent a lot more time as a frail human danger magnet than as a vampire," Jasper announced. "Edward still feels the need to protect her and worry about her."

Edward nodded his head. "I am trying."

"We could have picked another day," I offered.

"No, Emmett. Today is a good day for it," Edward said, smiling completely. "This day should be remembered for something other than the near death of my lovely wife."

"I'm glad I was nowhere near you when she grabbed that rock. I would have been useless feeling your panic," Jasper chuckled.

"Give Squirt a break!" I defended. "She was human. She couldn't properly understand the indestructibility of our vampire selves."

"She is amazing," Edward mused. "I worried about her change so much. About how it would affect her personality." Edward laughed loudly. "Being a vampire hasn't really changed her at all. It's Alice and Rose that have effected the most change in my Bella."

"They love her," Jasper said. "Alice couldn't love Bella more if they had been blood sisters as humans."

"I know it took her some time …" I chuckled. "…but I always knew Rosie would come around and love Bella just as much as the rest of us." We sat quietly for a moment. "Okay! We need some rules here."

"Rules?" Jasper questioned.

"Yes! This is supposed to be a manly trip to Vegas. We are not going to spend it sulking over our girls! Rule number one! No talking about the girls," I announced.

"That's not going to be possible," Edward chuckled.

"Don't make me have to have consequences for the rule breaking!" I warned. Jasper and Edward just smiled at me. "Rule number two. No wandering off on our own. We are going on this trip to hang out together and that's what we need to do. We have plenty of time, so all of us will get to play the games we want, but we'll do it together."

"No card games," Edward said, shaking his head. "I'm not helping to cheat."

"Who needs you to cheat?" Jasper chuckled. "I can just sit there and see who's cocky and who's nervous."

"Rule number three," I said with a toothy grin. "No using our powers unless absolutely necessary."

"Damn It, Man!" Jasper yelled. "You are quickly sucking the fun out of this trip!"

"Be an honest gambler for once in your undead life," I quipped to my emotional brother.

"I have a rule for you," Edward said with a smirk. I turned toward him. "Rule number four. No joining the paid entertainers on stage or the floor or anywhere else. You can watch, but you cannot join in."

"Damn!" I hissed.

"If you two get to make rules, so do I," Jasper huffed. "Rule number five! Only one thirty minute phone call to your mate per day!"

"No way!" Edward roared. "I am not going along with that!"

"How much time would you go along with?" I asked.

Edward considered it closely. "One hour."

"Fine," Jasper agreed. "One hour, but still only the one call per day. And you can't break it up into two thirty minute calls."

"What if they call us?" Edward asked, looking for loopholes.

"You have five minutes and they can't hang up and call right back," Jasper said.

"Okay," I said. "I agree with that."

"Yeah," Edward sighed, not really liking it at all. I gave my brother credit. He really was trying to have a good time with us. "Thanks, Em," he whispered.

I smiled to myself. No privacy with psychic siblings around, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I started flipping through the channels on Edward's stereo again. I finally found a song I liked that he would let me play. I couldn't help myself! I started singing along. Jasper decided to join in just to annoy Edward, I'm sure.

"_So come on baby, get in - Get in, just get in - Check out the trouble we're in - You're beside me on the seat - Got your hand between my knees - And you control how fast we go by just how hard you wanna squeeze - It's hard to steer when you're breathing in my ear - But I got both hands on the wheel while you got both hands on my gears - By now, no doubt that we were heading south - I guess nobody ever taught her not to speak with a full mouth_." ._(Nickelback – Animals)_

On the last word, Edward flicked the radio off hard. Jasper and I burst out laughing. Edward's face was priceless! I couldn't believe it! He and Bella had been married for months now and he still acted like a damn prude at times!

"Come on, Eddie! What was wrong with that song?" I chuckled.

"Yeah, Edward. You should have been paying attention to it," Jasper urged. "It might give you some ideas for when Bella's free to ride around in the Volvo with you."

"Oh, Jasper," I said, making my voice sound serious. "Edward would never sully the Volvo in such a way."

"Yes, how silly of me to forget," Jasper chuckled. "Bella just barely beat out this car for Edward's love and affection."

"And the two of you actually wonder why I choose to spend my time with Bella instead of you," Edward snarled.

"We're your big brothers, Ed! What else are we supposed to do besides torture you?" I asked. "Besides, you're the one who cut the radio off."

"Fine!" Edward hissed. He turned the radio back on. "Sing away." He grumbled, probably hoping I couldn't hear him. "Stupid singing vampire brother who doesn't know when to shut up."

I only smiled. That little remark would come back to bite him in his prude butt later on. I'd let it go for now. With Edward's driving, we were at the airport in no time. We boarded the plane quickly and took our seats. Jazz sat near the window to stay just a little further away from the humans. He was a lot better at controlling himself for all of the practice with Bella, but he didn't always trust himself. I made sure I let myself feel as much confidence as possible so Jazz could share in it. I knew my brothers saw me as the big kid without a care, but it didn't bother me. They worried and panicked enough for the whole house. Someone had to be the tension breaker.

Edward sat right across from us. I could see in his face that he was thinking hard about Bella. It was going to be a long plane ride for him. I hoped he wouldn't let out the masochist side of himself and dwell on his last plane ride without Bella.

"I'm not, Emmett," Edward whispered suddenly. Oh, right! Mind reader! "I'm just missing her. I'm not thinking any bad thoughts."

"Would you really tell me if you were?" I asked, leaning across the aisle to see his face better.

He turned and grinned at me. "You wouldn't need me to. You've got our own personal lie detector sitting right next to you."

Jasper piped up, "I'm not allowed to use my powers. It's a rule! And Edward needs a consequence for using his on you, Emmett."

"The rules are for Vegas," Edward argued. "We aren't there yet. And you know that Emmett thinks as loud as he speaks!"

"I have a deep voice!" I defended.

"Who wants to bet on the first of our ladies to call?" Jasper asked with a wide grin. "My money's on Bella."

"She's got Alice and Rose with her. They'll never let her crack," Edward chuckled. "I bet Rose calls first."

"Rose is not that type of girl," I laughed. "She'd never call just to say she missed me. She'd wait and show me when I got home. My money's on Bella with Jazz." Edward smiled a very toothy grin at me. He knew something I didn't! I could tell. I leaned closer to Jazz. "What do you think he knows? He only grins like that when he's in on something we aren't."

Jasper checked out Edward and then leaned back. "I haven't got a clue. But he's radiating smugness. We may just be in danger of loosing this bet. Maybe we should set some terms."

"I think you're right," I said. I turned toward Edward. "What are the terms if we take this bet?"

"Winner gets to pick the first game we play in Vegas," Edward stated.

"And loser?" Jasper asked.

Edward smiled wickedly and Jasper and I exchanged a nervous glance. "Loser …" Edward said, before pausing and smiling again. "…loser pays for the first night of gambling."

"Ouch!" Jasper chuckled. "I bet that's going to be an awful lot of personal cash."

"Not unless the non-losers lose on purpose," I said. I looked at Edward. He was still smiling. I knew it melted Bella's heart, but it gave me the creeps! Bella had no idea just how sneaky and underhanded Edward could be when he wanted.

I shivered, remembering the last time I had truly angered Edward to the point of no return. It was maybe a month before Bella came to Forks. I had pulled a prank on Edward in the school cafeteria to get back at him for making me lose a bet with Jazz. Saying that Edward hadn't appreciated my prank was like saying Bella's blood only smelled a tiny bit good to my brother. As his revenge, Edward had put pink hair dye in my shampoo. He'd also hid all of my clothing and left me a pink a shirt and pink pair of golfer's pants to wear to school with some very ugly white golfing shoes. After that day, I never wanted to see anything pink again. I hated the color so much that I even threw out all of Rose's costumes that had pink in them.

"Why are you disgusted and terrified?" Jasper chuckled.

"The pink incident," I whispered. Jasper chuckled again. He remembered it.

"Think about something else then," Jasper ordered. "You're going to make this plane ride unbearably long if you continue with those thoughts."

I pictured Rosie happy to see me when I got back home and smiled. Jasper relaxed next to me and nodded his head in thanks. I was probably being nervous for nothing. Edward was a good bluffer. He had no reason to think Rose would be first to call. I shook my head. I just wasn't going to worry about it. We were in the air and on our way to Vegas. This was going to be an excellent trip!


	2. CheckingIn Jasper

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creations of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Edward, Emmett and Jasper head to Vegas for four days and three nights of gambling and fun.

**Checking In**

JASPER:

I hated plane rides. Too many humans in too small of a space! I usually spent the entire ride not breathing and not talking. With Emmett next to me, it was impossible not to talk. But I appreciated the confidence he kept sending my way. Edward was holding up better than I expected. He was missing Bella, but he wasn't anxious or overly sad. He was even feeling a little excited for our trip.

I closed my eyes and thought of Alice. I felt the familiar smile creep across my face. I loved her so much. Every action and reaction I had centered around making her happy. It was easy to be in control and focus on other things when she was at my side. Alice never let me feel like a monster. She never let me feel like I was a risk to anyone. The amount of love and confidence she poured into me always left me a little staggered.

When I first left the south, I never really believed I would leave that life behind for long. It was the only one I had known. I didn't care for a solitary existence, but I also didn't want to fight anymore. Even though my faith was low, I still hoped for something better. That day in the café, when she walked right up to me, I wasn't sure what to do. The love, acceptance and understanding she felt for me rolled off of her in huge waves. She was a stranger, but she acted if she had known me for years. Her golden eyes had perplexed me, but I had also instantly loved them and wanted mine to look that way.

The first time she took me hunting her way, I was apprehensive to say the least. Abstaining from humans had never crossed my mind before. Why would it? It wasn't like they weren't in abundance. A dead human here or there didn't bother me. They were so fragile and they would die anyway, most by their own hands. I was only helping them along. Alice valued humans as something more than a food source. She believed they had a purpose that had nothing to do with being our dinner.

It had gotten much easier of the years to follow Alice and Carlisle's way of life. I loved Alice more than life and every time I fought with the beast inside of me, it was her love that kept me from going over the edge. I smiled again. It also helped that my wife could see the future and keep me out of risky situations. I was on my own for this trip though. I would have to keep myself in check and rely on Emmett and Edward to help if I needed it. Knowing and loving Bella had made it much easier to see humans as so much more than a quick meal. I would always be grateful to her for that and for her instant forgiveness of me for her horrible birthday. And now that she was one of us, Bella and I had a real brother and sister relationship.

I was brought out of my reverie by the plane touching down on the ground. We were finally in Vegas. I sat up and opened my eyes, excited to get off the plane and start having fun. I looked over at Emmett and he was rubbing his hands together, smiling from ear to ear. Edward was grinning slightly, but I could feel that most of his thoughts were still on Bella. At least I no longer had to worry about dealing with his sexual frustration. Edward was apparently no longer afraid to touch Bella. Not that he trusted his brothers enough to confide in us. I chuckled darkly. It was probably a _little_ our fault that he didn't trust us, but really! How could we live with a hundred year old virgin and not tease him? Humans made a movie about a forty-year old one and they did much worse things to the little human man! Although, if Edward did have a hairy chest and it was capable of being waxed, I'm sure Emmett would have reenacted that scene many times over.

"Jasper, why are you blocking your thoughts," Edward asked.

"You aren't supposed to be using your power," I replied.

"We haven't got off the plane yet. Besides, I wouldn't really care if you weren't singing so loud. If you could lower the volume just a little, it would be a big help," Edward said.

"Sorry," I chuckled. "Volume is down and will stay that way."

The seatbelt light finally went off and we got up and exited the plane. All of our baggage had been checked in. We headed down to the claim area to retrieve them.

"What kind of car are we renting?" Emmett asked.

Edward smiled happily and nearly knocked me over with his enthusiasm. "Alice found us a 2007 Mercedes AMG CLS63. She specially requested black with dark tint!"

"That wife of yours has talent!" Emmett exclaimed as he patted me on the back. "Ed, you have to share driving privileges!"

"Fine, but I'm driving first," Edward said. I was a little surprised at how easily he agreed. Edward hated to let others drive. "I'm making an attempt to really enjoy this trip with you and Emmett," he replied to my thoughts.

"Thanks, Edward," I said, patting him on the shoulder.

"Besides," Edward chuckled. "Emmett was prepared to wrestle me for the keys in front of an entire airport of humans. Carlisle would not have been happy about that."

"Esme's the one we would have had to worry about," I laughed as I grabbed by bag from the turnstile. Emmett and Edward did the same and we made our way out of the airport.

Edward headed off toward the left, probably already having picked up the thoughts of the guy dropping off our car. I looked past Edward and saw the car and the guy. I whistled low. The car was a beautiful piece of engineering. It looked as fast as it supposedly went too. Emmett followed my gaze and let out a quiet curse. Emmett was impressed and very excited.

Edward was trying to take the keys from the human and was itching to get in the car. My brother was actually hopping from one foot to the other with impatience. I got closer and found out why. The guy was holding the keys tightly and explaining about the delicacy of such an exotic car and how Edward seemed a bit young to be driving it.

Edward lifted his hand and flashed his wedding ring at the poor human. "I assure you, I am more than old enough to drive myself. I own an Aston Martin. I believe I am more than capable of understanding the value of an exotic car."

Emmett heard too and he ran over to _help_ Edward out. "Is there a problem with the car, Edward?"

"No," Edward sighed.

"Actually," the human said. "I'm reluctant to release the car. This man seems awfully young. Can I see some ID?"

Edward was furious and opened his mouth, but Emmett held up his big hand. "Sir, what's your name?" Emmett asked the human.

"Donovan," the human answered.

"Well, Donovan," Emmett began as he wrapped a massive arm around the little man. "Are you worried about my age?"

"Well … no … not really … you seem old enough," the man stuttered.

"I'll be with my brother here the entire time. So, you see, there's really nothing for you to worry about. Just hand the keys to my brother and we can all be on our way," Emmett explained.

The human was still really nervous, but I think it was no longer about the car. I think it had more to do with the giant vampire hugging him. The man handed the keys to Edward and my brother's jubilation pounded into me. I just shook my head and smiled at him. The only thing that made his emotions stronger was Bella. Lord help us all if she had been here with him for this moment! Edward was barely moving at human speed as he rounded the car and slid into the driver's seat. He'd forgotten all about his bag and left it on the sidewalk. I chuckled as I picked it up.

Emmett opened up the passenger door and told Edward to pop the trunk. Emmett walked around back and helped me get all the bags situated. "Think he's happy?" Emmett laughed as the engine started and Edward revved it.

"I know he's happy!" I chuckled.

"That's because you're _gifted_," Emmett teased. "You really are special on the inside, just like your mom told you!"

"Don't you ever get tired of quoting John Tucker to me?" I asked as I slid into the shotgun seat.

Emmett's booming laugh filled the car as he got in back. "Nope!"

Edward was grinning from ear to ear and slightly bouncing in his seat. And he thought Alice and Bella were bad! I laughed heartily at him. He ignored me as he pulled out and sped out of the airport area.

"I know what I'm asking Bella to get me for my birthday!" Edward chuckled.

"You don't celebrate your birthday," Emmett informed him.

"I do know!" Edward laughed, pressing down harder on the gas as we got onto the interstate. Edward's phone started ringing. Emmett and I laughed loudly. Edward pulled it out, scowling, but as he looked at the ID, his smile returned. "It's Alice. We all loose!" Edward laughed. He flipped open the phone. "Hey, Alice. Everything okay? Of course you would already know about it. I don't need a party to get gifts. No, I don't. No, I don't, Alice. Fine! Okay! Yes!" Edward slammed the phone shut and growled.

"What did my wife do now?" I asked, trying not to laugh.

"She has decided that she's throwing me a birthday party when we return. If I don't go along and pretend to enjoy myself, she will tell Bella that the car I want is a Ford Focus." Edward's entire body shivered at the mention of the car's name.

"Blackmailed once again by the psychic pixie!" Emmett laughed.

"Psycho is more like it," Edward grumbled.

"Edward," I warned.

"I know," Edward said, rolling his eyes. "You know I love Alice. But don't _you_ ever get tired of how she tricks us all into going along with her plans?"

"I plead the fifth," I chuckled. "That statement is the key to a very happy marriage, boys. You may want to make note of it."

"Well now that we don't have the bet to decide the first game of the night, what do you boys think we should play?" Emmett asked.

"Depends on where we are staying," I replied.

"The Bella-gio," Emmett informed me, pronouncing the first part like Bella's name.

"It's Bellagio," Edward corrected, pronouncing it correctly.

"I know that!" Emmett whined. "I was just having fun. You should try it! You might like it."

"I am having fun," Edward chuckled. "I'm driving!"

"Don't take the long way to get there," Emmett ordered. "We have plenty of time to drive the car and it doesn't matter if you're getting one for your birthday anyway. I want to check in and start playing. What do you guys think about playing craps first?"

"Can you keep your temper in check this time?" Edward asked.

"You're the one with anger issues," Emmett said.

"You're the one who crushed the dice in his bear paw of a hand after loosing," Edward quipped.

"No one noticed," Emmett defended.

"Only because I ran around to the dealer side and replaced them," I fussed. "And then Edward and I had to go pull the security tape!" As usual, I didn't feel any embarrassment from Emmett for his actions, just humor.

"Maybe we should start with poker and remove temptation from Emmett," Edward offered, smiling at Emmett's reflection in the rearview mirror. Emmett poked his tongue out and crossed his arms as a sign of his sulking. I rolled my eyes at him. He really could be a five year old when he wanted. "We could always go down to the Baccarat Bar," Edward offered.

"No way!" Emmett shouted. "That's so boring, Edward! And just like I'm banned from joining in the shows, you are banned from playing the piano." Edward smiled, knowing that would be Emmett's reaction.

"Let's just get checked in and put our bags away," I said. "We can decide on the game after that."

"Too bad this is going to be the only cloudy day," Emmett complained. "I wanted to swim. I love the pool at this hotel."

"We could have waited," I said.

"I was tired of waiting for a week of cloudy days," Emmett whined.

"Then stop complaining," Edward told him.

"Shut up and drive," Emmett retorted. Edward chuckled, happy to have gotten under Emmett's skin.

We made it to the hotel in record time. Edward's disappointment at having to turn over the keys was affecting me. '_Edward, please!_' I begged him with my thoughts. He nodded and must have started thinking of Bella, because his disappointment changed to a happy longing. Then again, he could have just been looking forward to driving again tomorrow. I chuckled as we walked up to the counter. Edward and Emmett looked at me, but I just shook my head.

"How can I help you?" the young woman asked.

I saw Edward cringe slightly and knew the woman was thinking naughty thoughts about one of us. Of course, with the lust she was tossing around, it might have been all three of us. I sent a calming wave her way, hoping to keep this from taking all night.

"We have a reservation under Cullen," Edward replied.

She looked down at her computer for a moment. "Yes. I have you booked in the Grand Lakeview Suite. Are you sure you won't need another room? That suite only has two beds."

"We're good!" Emmett said, leaning on the counter. "Ed here lost a bet and has to take the couch. If you could get us that key now, we'd really appreciate it. We're anxious to get over to the casino."

"Not a problem," the woman replied, openly licking her lips as she checked out Emmett.

Edward spun around facing me and trying to hold in his laughter. I was going to have to find out what this woman had just thought! Edward was usually in better control of his reactions to people's thoughts. Emmett turned, holding the key card up high and smiling like he'd just won the lottery. His level of pride was ridiculous for the situation, but that was Emmett! We made our way over to the elevators and into the room.

"Edward," I called. He spun around, not having any clue as to what I wanted since I was still blocking him.

"What?" he asked warily.

"I need to know something … something _very_ important. I can feel your apprehension so just relax. Trust me, you'll feel much better is you just answer my question and confide in me. Just remember that I only ask because I'm your big brother and I care very much about you and …"

"And who?" Edward begged. He was getting where I wanted him, but he wasn't anxious enough yet.

"Edward, this is so hard for me to ask of you. I … I'm not sure if I even should," I said, turning away from him.

He was suddenly next to me, spinning me to face him. "What, Jasper? What's going on? Is this about Bella? Did she say something to you before we left? Does this have anything to do with that walk you guys took last night?" Now Edward's anxiety level was right! He would probably murder me, but this was too much fun to pass up.

"Calm down, Edward," I told him, sending him some of my calm. He relaxed slightly. "I just wanted to ask you if … if …" I lifted my face and smiled wickedly at him. "…if you would tell us what the little human was thinking when she licked her lips and you started laughing."

Emmett fell to the floor laughing his head off and rolling around. Edward stared daggers at me and started growling from deep in his chest. He took a step forward. I took one back and shot some of Emmett's humor at him. I had to get him calm. We were in a small room and he was much faster than me. Maybe I should have thought that out a little better. It just had been so long since I could really get him. I didn't like to upset Bella, so I had gotten in the habit of letting him off easy.

"Edward," I said, holding up my hands as a show of peace. "I'm sorry, man! Really! But I couldn't pass up such a golden opportunity."

"Do _not_ do that again!" Edward snarled, clenching his fists tightly. "This is hard enough without you making me think something is wrong with her!"

I felt his longing and sadness for Bella and the small amount of relief for having it have just been a joke. My prank no longer seemed so funny to me. Even Emmett was sitting up and being quiet. "I'm sorry, Edward." I stopped blocking him. '_I really am sorry. I didn't mean for you to worry. I really want you to have a good time with me and Emmett so you'll want to go out with us again._'

Edward nodded and relaxed completely. "Just for that, you get the couch."

"Ed, we don't need beds," Emmett teased, pulling himself up from the floor.

"No, we don't," Edward agreed. "But I want the room anyway. I know we have our rules and I will respect them, but I am going to use the next ten minutes just to check on Bella. Do either of you have a problem with that?"

"No," Emmett said immediately, throwing me a dirty look.

"Go ahead," I replied. Edward stalked off into one of the rooms and slammed the door shut.

"Bus-ted!" Emmett sang.

"Oh, shut up! How was I supposed to know he was going to overreact so badly?" I defended. "With all the pranks we've pulled on him over the years, you'd think he'd be somewhat used to it by now."

"You hit his soft spot," Emmett said as he started pulling clothing out of his suitcase. "If you hadn't let him think Squirt was involved, he wouldn't have flipped out on you."

"I feel emotions, Emmett, not read minds! How was I to know he would immediately think of Bella?" I asked.

"A person that I normally consider to be smarter than me once said, and I quote, 'She's spent a lot more time as a frail human danger magnet than as a vampire. Edward still feels the need to protect her and worry about her.' That's how!" Emmett replied.

"Point taken. But if he decides to get me back, you can't help," I told him.

"Of course," Emmett said with a very toothy grin. His smugness rained down on me.

"Whatever!" I plopped down on the sofa.

"You should change clothes so we look the part when we head down to the casino," Emmett suggested.

"What part?" I asked.

"Hot, young, rich men looking for a good time," Emmett replied, puffing out his chest.

"And when I tell Rose you had a group of human girls trailing you around the casino?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.

"The same thing that will happen when I tell Alice that you were the one who gave me the idea to join in the Elvis show that I'm not allowed to go to now," Emmett said, smiling wickedly at me.

All right! His confidence and smugness was warranted this time. Alice would kill me if she knew I had put him up to it. She hated whenever one of us got arrested! I personally didn't have a problem with it if it was for a good reason and I wasn't the one in the jail. Like the time Edward and Emmett got arrested for public indecency for mooning me. That had been great! Esme had yelled at them for over an hour after they had gotten home!

Emmett and I had actually had a good time in jail when we got arrested for assault and battery after fighting outside that bar after I lost a bet to him. We had a lot of fun playing a game of our own creation. We called it 'Emo Drunk.' Emmett would come up with an emotion and I would make all the drunks in the room feel it. Lust and giddiness were the best for laughs. Confusion didn't really work since a drunk person can't think clearly anyway. Sadness was a bad idea! Drunks are not pretty when they cry!

I sighed deeply, knowing I was banned from using my emotions on the humans for the next few days. I got up from the couch and went to change clothes. I was going to enjoy this trip with or without my power. Besides, if I kept a close enough eye on my brothers, I would be able to play just a little and they'd never know! And if Emmett got us arrested, Edward might enjoy a round of 'Emo Drunk'.

My phone chirped. I flipped it open and looked at the text message. It was from my wife. It was short and to the point and scared the hell out of me. _JailNoMe-5Months_. That was all the incentive I needed for behaving and keeping Emmett under control. Sometimes, it was not fun to have a wife with Alice's power. But I loved her anyway! I smiled as I pictured her beautiful, loving golden eyes. Yes, there was nothing at all that I wouldn't do for my sweet little Alice.

**JAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJA**

Thanks to **VJGM** for the use of the arrest ideas. If you would like to know the details, VJGM is writing a one-shot about them. The arrests are first mentioned in the wonderful story Family Therapy Cullen Style. Please be sure to also check out Boycotts and Barflies (a personal favorite of mine!).


	3. CarsCoasterCrazy Edward

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creations of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Edward, Emmett and Jasper head to Vegas for four days and three nights of gambling and fun.

**Cards, Coasters and a Crazy**

EDWARD:

I walked into the room and slammed the door behind me. Some days, I really contemplated killing my brothers! I shook my head, trying to let go of some of my anger before I called Bella. I threw my bag on the bed and paced around the room a couple of times. I stopped and took a very deep breath, letting it out slow. I doubted I would get much calmer. I opened my phone and pressed her speed dial.

She answered on the second ring. "Edward!"

"Hello, love. How are you?"

"I'm good! I miss you, though."

"I miss you too. I just wanted to let you know that we made it to the hotel."

"Great!" I heard someone talking to her. "Alice wants to know if the car was satisfactory."

"Please tell her I am very happy with it." I smiled, knowing Alice hadn't mentioned my decision yet. She would probably use it to keep us under control over the next few days.

"It's awfully quiet on your end. Where is everyone? We figured you boys would be cutting up by now," Bella teased. I could hear the smile in her voice and it made me smile.

"We'll get to that shortly. I just wanted to hear your beautiful voice first."

"Oh, Edward!" Bella sighed. I pictured her smiling and her eyes sparkling.

"What are you and our sisters doing?"

"We just finished a fascinating round of Bella Barbie," she laughed. I loved the sound of her laughter. My heart ached a little as I realized just how much I was already missing her. "Rose is picking out a movie for us to watch."

"Sounds like you have a very exciting night ahead of you," I chuckled.

"I'm with Alice! How could it possibly be anything less?" she laughed again.

"I love your laugh," I sighed.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her voice a little tense.

I cursed myself. I didn't want to make this harder on her. "I'm fine, love. I just miss you. That's all. But I meant what I said. I really do love to hear you laugh."

"I'm sure you'll have lots of stories to tell me when you get back! You should be able to keep me laughing for days!" I was pleased to note that her voice was relaxed again.

"I'll give it my best try." I smiled happily at the thought of getting home to her.

"Rose is yelling that she's got the movie ready," Bella sighed.

"It's okay. I have to get going too. Emmett and Jasper are waiting on me. I'll call you later tonight."

"Promise?"

"Promise. I love you."

"I love you, Edward."

"Bye my love!"

"Bye."

I closed my phone and stared at it for a second. I let out a deep breath and stood up. I wanted to change before we went down. I opened my bag to grab some clothes. There was a piece of paper on top. I picked it up and started laughing as I read it.

_Edward,_

_Try not to worry about me. I'm with the two best bodyguards ever – even if they torture me with makeup and hair products. I love you with all my heart and soul. See you soon._

_Love, Bella_

I changed into my black slacks and a navy button up shirt. I grabbed Bella's note, folded it and put it into my pocket with my cell phone. I stepped out of the room to find Emmett and Jasper watching the TV. "Ready?" I asked.

"Yep!" Emmett said, jumping right up. "How's Squirt?"

"She's fine. The girls just finished Bella Barbie and they're getting ready to watch a movie," I told them.

"Edward," Jasper said.

I held up a hand to him. "No, don't apologize again. It's fine. I just want to forget about it and go downstairs."

"What are we doing first?" Emmett asked, bouncing around. I noticed his shirt for the first time. He was wearing a black bowling shirt with a deep red stripe down the left side. There was a silhouette of a seated naked woman. I shook my head at him. I wondered if Rose knew about this shirt.

"Poker?" Jasper offered. At least he was dressed normally. Alice had probably packed and labeled everything for him. He was dressed in khaki pants and a cream colored sweater.

"Blackjack?" I asked.

"Yeah, let's do Blackjack first," Emmett said. "But remember the rules, gentlemen! No powers!"

"Let's go!" I said, pushing on Emmett and rolling my eyes at him.

"So, Edward," Emmett chuckled as we climbed into the elevator. "What did the little human think about me?"

I laughed as I remembered the woman's thoughts. "She was picturing how much she would enjoy spending time with you. She thought it would be romantic if you two shared some spaghetti and ended it with a kiss."

"Disney!" Jasper roared. "She has Emmett standing in front of her and she imagines a Disney cartoon! Oh my God!"

"Is that the one with the dogs?" Emmett asked. I nodded as Jasper and I laughed, holding on to each other. "I'm not a mutt! Doesn't she know the difference between a vamp and a mutt?"

"No, Emmett," Jasper snorted. "That's sort of the point of us having secret identities."

"Yeah, whatever!" Emmett growled.

"What's 'eating' you?" I teased. Jasper went into a fresh fit of laughter.

"I don't want to be compared with a mutt," Emmett whined. "They stink!"

I rolled my eyes at him. "If it makes you feel any better, the guy that was behind us was thinking that you have a really cute butt. I would have liked to ignore them both, but they were awfully loud with their little fantasies about you."

"Gross, Edward!" Emmett yelled. "You know that I don't like to know about those kinds of thoughts." Emmett shivered and brushed off his clothing as if something nasty had touched him.

"Relax," Jasper told him as he sent out a wave of calm.

"Jasper," Emmett warned.

"We can't use our powers on the humans," Jasper said. "No one said anything about me not using them on you. Besides, someone has to keep you out of trouble."

"Just how many threats have you two received to keep me under control?" Emmett asked, smiling proudly.

"You don't even want to know!" Jasper laughed.

The doors opened and we made our way into the casino. Alice would be very proud to see how relaxed Jasper was right now. I didn't even want to know what Rose might think of Emmett. It was best to stay far away from their thoughts. I focused as best I could, tuning out everyone but my brothers. This was always the hard part for me. There were so many voices in here. I was a little envious of Bella's ability to turn it all off. There have been plenty of days when I wished I could turn this off.

I sometimes got the impression that my brothers thought I listened on purpose. They couldn't understand how hard it was to tune out people. Our high school days would have been much easier if I could have managed that. But then if I was able to turn it off, would I still have noticed Bella? Yes! I would have noticed her no matter what. If not right then in the cafeteria, I still would have done so in Biology. The chances that I would meet the love of my life while pretending to be a high school student … I shook my head. I was supposed to be in the here and now with my brothers. I could contemplate my gorgeous wife on my own time.

We made our way to the counter and purchased our chips. We started walking toward the Blackjack area.

"How about that table?" Emmett asked, pointing to one with three empty seats.

"Okay," Jasper replied. "But you sit next to the human."

"No problem," Emmett shrugged.

The human in question was an older woman dressed like a twenty-something on the way to a club. Her bright red lipstick was fairly revolting. She smiled at us and I could see the lipstick all over her yellowing teeth. I grimaced as I took my seat between my brothers.

"Let's get to betting!" Emmett said cheerily. "Are we just betting on the cards? I'd personally prefer betting on each other too."

"I'll go along with betting on each other," Jasper replied. I nodded my agreement.

"Ten a hand?" Emmett asked. Jasper and I both nodded.

"Welcome, gentlemen," the dealer said. He was a tall, thin man with a very noticeable receding hair line. He eyed Emmett warily. I wished I could hear what he was thinking.

I hated having to rely on faces. I'd gotten a lot of practice with Bella, but I still didn't trust my ability to do it accurately. Bella refused to believe I was ever nervous about anything. She claimed I did everything perfectly. She had no idea that half the time, I was just as lost as she was. I might have lived over a hundred years, but when it came to love and marriage and Bella, I was nothing more than a seventeen year old. But I had Bella to grow up and learn with. That made everything worth it.

"Let's start out small with our chips," I cautioned my brothers. "We don't want to draw attention right away. I'd like to get to play for a while."

"Twenty each?" Jasper questioned.

"Sounds good," Emmett said. The three of us put our chips down on the table.

The dealer gave us all our cards and we flipped them over. The house card showing was a nine of diamonds. I had an ace and a queen. I kept my face stoic. I wasn't going to give myself away. I put my cards down. I looked over at Emmett, he was frowning. I turned to Jasper, he wasn't giving anything away.

"Emmett?" Jasper asked.

Emmett looked between Jasper and I a few times. "Edward."

"Edward?" Jasper questioned.

"Me," I answered.

"And I pick myself," Jasper announced. I wondered about that. We couldn't both have it, could we?

"Stay or Hit?" the dealer questioned the human woman.

"Hit me, big boy," the woman replied with a weird wink and something that could have been a grimace or a smile.

The dealer passed her a card. The woman picked it up and sighed as she threw her cards down onto the table.

"Stay or Hit?" the dealer asked Emmett.

"Hit me," Emmett said. He pulled up the card and groaned. His hand obviously hadn't gotten any better.

"Stay or Hit?" the dealer repeated as he looked at me.

"Stay, thank you," I replied.

"And you?" the dealer questioned, staring at Jasper.

"Stay," Jasper said.

"Any more hits?" the dealer asked, looking between Emmett and the woman. They both shook their heads.

The dealer flipped up his second card. It was a jack of spades. "House has nineteen."

"Damn," Jasper sighed, putting his cards down. He had an eight of clubs and a ten of hearts.

I put my own cards down. I had the ace of diamonds and the queen of hearts. I smiled at my brothers. "I think that means I win."

"We have a winner," the dealer announced. He slid my winnings over to me.

We continued to play for over an hour. Emmett was determined to win. He never learned. Blackjack was not his game. He never had the patience for it. There were plenty of times he could have won if he'd just stayed where he was at seventeen or eighteen, but Emmett also asked for the hit, trying to get a perfect twenty-one. Jasper ended up being the big winner with the cards. I won with betting on ourselves.

"Let's go see a show!" Emmett said as we walked away from the table.

"No," Jasper replied shaking his head. "I've had enough of close quarters for a while. It's finally dark. Let's go do something outside."

"Roller Coaster!" Emmett yelled.

"Yes!" I hissed. I loved roller coasters. I wondered if Bella liked them. I doubted it with the way she always complained about my driving. Maybe I could get her to give it a chance. I smiled to myself. I was sure I could dazzler her into it if needed. Once Carlisle released her, we would have to take her to an amusement park.

"Let's get going!" Jasper said, stalking toward the exit.

Roller coasters were one thing that my brothers and I agreed completely on. We loved them. Wherever we moved, we found out the location of the closest amusement park. When we got the park, the coaster was the first thing we did. My sisters liked them too, but not as much as us. We could spend the whole day on them and not care. They liked diversity. The roller coaster was diverse! You never knew when or how loud Emmett would scream and what faces he and Jasper would make if the coaster had a camera on it.

We walked out of the hotel and headed down the Vegas Strip on foot. The roller coaster we were going to was at the New York, New York Hotel, only about a mile away. It was a short walk for vampires.

"It's a Friday and it's eight-thirty so we can ride for three and half hours," Emmett informed us.

"Not much time, but it'll do," Jasper stated.

"Hopefully, we can sit at the back by ourselves this time," I said.

The last time I'd been on a roller coaster, I'd sat next to Emmett at the front. The others had decided to wait for the next turn. The human couple behind us got sick and barfed all over the back of Emmett and me. When the coaster had finally stopped, Alice took pictures while Jasper and Rosalie laughed at us. The staff ended up hosing us off. Alice kindly took pictures of that too. Emmett and I were forced to walk through the park soaking wet.

"I'll wait this time if I have to," Emmett announced. "I'm not getting called 'The Human Barf Bag' ever again!"

"You know Rose was only teasing," Jasper chuckled. "She still loves you."

"Jazz, you can be a real pain sometimes," Emmett sighed.

"Do I hear dissention in the ranks?" I teased. "Is my favorite torturous tag-team finally breaking up?"

"You aren't thinking of being a cowardly deserter, are you?" Jasper quipped, grinning at Emmett.

"I can't be a deserter. I outrank you!" Emmett replied.

"How the hell do you figure that?" Jasper laughed.

"I am a four star general," Emmett said proudly.

"Um … Emmett," I laughed. "That's on your video game. Jasper really was a Major at one point. _He_ outranks _you_."

"Fine!" Emmett huffed. "Be that way!" Jasper and I exchanged a glance before starting to laugh all over again. Emmett tried not to crack a smile, but then gave in and laughed with us.

This trip was turning out really well so far. I still missed Bella, but I really was enjoying my time with my brothers. We finally reached the hotel and the roller coaster. We got into line and thankfully, it wasn't that long. We were able to get on the ride quickly and get seats at the back. I was at the very back with Emmett and Jasper right in front of me.

"Let's hope no one leans over the side to let loose," Jasper chuckled.

"Stop trying to jinx us!" Emmett yelled.

"Stop yelling, you big coward! It's not like it doesn't wash off," Jasper snapped.

"Jazz, I think you're letting Emmett's anger affect you a little," I said. "Besides, you really don't want to find out what it does feel like."

"Look at those two," Emmett chuckled, nodding his head toward the front of the coaster.

Sitting in the front seat were two very drunk human girls. We could smell the alcohol from our seats! One of them looked sleepy and the other looked a little crazy. The crazy one was yelling and screaming as if the coaster was already moving. I figured the guy working the coaster must have let them on hoping to get their numbers. I shook my head. Just another Mike Newton!

The ride started and we slowly made our way up the first incline. The crazy drunk human was cursing the ride for being too slow. Jasper and I were snickering while Emmett paid close attention. He wanted to see if he could learn any new words. About halfway through the ride, the crazy drunk human had us laughing so hard that we would have been crying if we were human. On straight-aways, she would lean to the left or right and act like she was being tossed around. On the curves, she would complain the track was too straight.

As we headed down one drop, a shirt came out of nowhere and slapped Jasper in the face. Emmett and I pointed and laughed at him. Jasper growled as he pulled the shirt off his face and tossed it away.

"Emmett, camera's coming up!" Jasper announced, pointing.

"Cheesy grins or frightened humans?" Emmett asked, grinning foolishly.

"Cheesy grins," Jasper replied.

I watched them, shaking my head, as they perfected their best cheesy grins for the camera. I watched the light start flashing on the camera. Just as the flash started to go off, something red smacked Emmett in the face and staid there as the picture was taken. Jasper had to pull me off the ride when the coaster stopped. I couldn't stop laughing. It was so bad that Jasper was having trouble keeping himself from doubling over. Emmett stomped past us grumbling and cursing too low for the humans to hear.

Jasper and I made our way over to the photo area. Prominently displayed on the big screen was Jasper and Emmett's picture. Jasper's mouth was in a perfect 'o' shape as he stared at Emmett. Emmett couldn't be seen behind the large red bra that covered his face. After purchasing a copy of the picture, Jasper and I turned to see the crazy drunk human being led away by the police. Someone had loaned them a shirt to cover her with.

We made our way back over to the line and found Emmett. "You aren't scarred for life, are you?" Jasper teased.

"He'll be fine," I chuckled. "He wouldn't want for us to have to explain to Rose why he developed a sudden fear of coasters."

"Shut up!" Emmett hissed.

"Oh, come on you big baby!" Jasper teased.

"At least it wasn't barf," I offered.

Emmett sighed. "I guess it was kind of funny."

"It was hilarious!" Jasper assured him. "What are the odds that a crazy drunk human will even make it onto a coaster, much less smack you in the face with her bra?"

"It is Vegas!" I shrugged.

"That's right!" Emmett exclaimed happily. "And what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas! We do not speak of this to the women. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Jasper replied.

"Agreed," I said. I didn't see a point in reminding him that it wouldn't matter if Alice had seen this little episode. Let him have his moment.

**EBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEB**

Thanks to dressageprincess for the coaster idea!

If anyone else has something they would like to see them do, please let me know. I'll see if I can work it in. If I do, I'll be sure to mention your name at the end.


	4. PhoneCalls All

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creations of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Edward, Emmett and Jasper head to Vegas for four days and three nights of gambling and fun.

**Phone Calls**

EDWARD:

I opened my phone and pressed her speed dial. I couldn't wait to hear her beautiful voice again.

Bella picked up on the third ring. "Hello!" she sang.

"Hello, love."

"It's my husband, the liar," she accused.

"What?" I shouted.

"Oh, relax!" Bella chuckled. "I was only teasing. When I talked to you earlier, you said you would call me later that night. It's technically an hour into the next day."

"Bella," I chuckled. "You really will give me a heart-attack one of these days."

"Are you having fun?"

"Yes."

"Good. I was worried they would torture you to make up for lost teasing time."

"They're still torturing me," I laughed. "But I'm holding my own for now. What about on your end?"

"No more torture here. Just watching movies."

"Isn't it past your bedtime?" I teased.

"I couldn't possibly sleep without my wonderful husband at my side," Bella chuckled. "And don't say that I can't sleep!"

"How did you know I was going to do that? Are you sure you can't read my mind on your own?"

"I just know you! I can picture you sitting there opening your mouth to tease me."

"What else can you picture me doing?"

"Wouldn't you like to know!"

"Yes. That's why I asked."

"I'm not telling. And you aren't here to dazzle me into it, so there!"

"Bella, are you poking your tongue at me?"

"Maybe."

"I'm beginning to think you don't miss me at all," I teased.

"You know _that's_ not true. I missed you as soon as you walked out the door."

"So soon?"

"Maybe it's you that doesn't miss me."

"My Bella, I missed you as soon as I took the first step away from your side."

"I love you, Edward."

"I love you too."

"What did you guys do tonight?"

"We played some cards and walked around a little. I think Emmett's planning on having us go back down to the casino."

"Did you all win?"

"We each one a little, but Jasper was the big winner of the night."

"Try to keep the betting under control. I'd hate for Rose to have to create a list for you guys."

"What would her list say?"

"First vampires to attend Gamblers Anonymous!"

I fell back onto the bed laughing. Only my Bella would come up with something like that. "I really love you, you know."

"I know. I feel the same way about you." We were both quiet for a long while, just enjoying the sound of each other's breathing. I looked at the bedside clock, surprised that I'd already used up forty minutes of my time.

"Emmett gave us rules to follow out here. I only have twenty minutes left to talk to you. Is there anything in particular you want to talk about?"

"No. It's enough just to know you're on the other end of the phone."

"Would you like me to hum your lullaby for you?"

"That would be perfect, Edward."

I smiled, knowing she was smiling on her end. I pictured her lying down in our bed and snuggling under our blankets. I hummed to her for the entire time. She would sigh with contentment every so often. I was glad this trip wasn't upsetting her. Finally, it was time to hang up.

"Bella."

"I know," she sighed.

"I'll call you tomorrow night."

"It won't come soon enough."

"Alice and Rose will help take your mind off of the time. I love you, Bella."

"I love you, Edward. Go have fun."

"Just a few more days, okay?"

"Okay. Hey! Did you find your note?"

"Yes," I laughed. "Thank you so very much."

"I'm glad you liked it. I love you. Goodnight."

"I love you, Bella. Be safe." I closed the phone gently. I stared up at the ceiling, trying not to feel the weight of missing her. I felt a surge of calm. "Thank you, Jasper," I whispered.

"Welcome!" came from another room.

**EBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEB**

EMMETT:

I was still chuckling from the coaster rides as I closed the bedroom door in our hotel room. It had been a great night, even with losing at cards. Edward had really let himself enjoy the night and both of my brothers were honoring my rules. Usually, one or both of them would thwart them just to annoy me.

I pulled out my phone and dialed the love of my life. I pictured her sitting in our room, stretched out on our bed, waiting for my call. I wondered what she would be wearing. I bet she would go shopping to get something new for when I got home.

Rose picked up on the fourth ring. She had probably counted just to make sure she didn't seem eager. "Hello."

"Hello? That's all I get. Don't you miss me at all, Rosie?" I teased.

"What's to miss? The childish behavior, the messy bathroom, or the constant groping?"

"I love it when you pretend you're annoyed with me. It's so damn sexy of you."

Rose laughed and I smiled. "Emmett!" I smiled wider. That was her way of saying she missed me. She'd never come right out and say it unless she felt she had to. Rose pretended she was more thorn than blossom.

"Miss you too, baby."

"How was the trip up?" she asked.

I told Rose all about Edward's reaction to our singing in the car. Then I explained about the human who didn't want to give Edward the car keys. I left out Jasper's bad joke and the lady that thought of me as a mutt. I told her a little about the card game.

"So how many human girls did you have to swat away tonight?"

"None. There were just a few old bats flying around."

"I'm glad you've managed to stay out of jail so far."

"I promised I'd behave."

"And my brothers?"

"Jasper is being Jasper. Edward is surprisingly having a good time." I chuckled.

"What?" I could hear the smile in my wife's voice. I pictured her moving up into a sitting position, eagerly awaiting blackmail intel.

"I think little Edward really liked my shirt."

"Which one did you wear?"

"The black one with the red stripe. He couldn't decide if he wanted to disapprove or laugh. He probably thinks I snuck it in behind your back."

"He doesn't know I bought it?"

"No. I have rules."

"Alice mentioned those. I didn't expect that he would actually follow the power one."

I shrugged. "He's really trying. I bet Bella had a talk with him before we left."

"She really is good for him. I'm glad she looked past what we are and decided to marry him."

"And I'm glad he finally manned up and changed her. But enough about our siblings. I want to hear about your day? Have you and Alice broken Bella yet?"

"No!" Rose laughed. "Why would you say such a thing?"

"I know how you two like to fight for her attention."

"The three of us had a very nice time dressing up and doing our hair, makeup and nails. Then we watched movies. I even let Bella pick one."

"That's my girl!" I could hear her shrug on the other end. I grinned.

"How much money have you lost so far?"

"Not much. We really only played one game tonight. We went down the street to ride the coaster for a while."

"Did the humans keep their food this time?"

"Yes, Rosalie!"

"Don't be that way, Emmie! You know you would have teased me if I had been in your seat."

"And you know that you would have done something perfectly evil to me once I stopped laughing and teasing you."

"More than likely."

"I know you well, Rosie. You wouldn't have let that slide."

"I would have been more concerned with taking out Alice's camera," Rose laughed. "She still has those pictures somewhere."

I sighed. I normally didn't get all sentimental like my brothers, but it had been a long time since any of us were away from our mates. "It's been a long time since we were apart."

"Seems that way." Rose sounded sad. I didn't like that.

It was time to lighten the mood. It was time to be the goofy guy I was so good at being. "Want to play the game we used to when we would go off on our boys only camping trips?"

"I don't know that I recall that game," she replied coyly.

"Yes, you do."

"Nope. Refresh my memory. How did it go?"

"Well, it started off with you describing to me in detail what you were wearing."

"Sounds boring."

"Just wait. It gets better. After we discussed your clothing, we would talk about which of those items I would like removed. Does any of this sound familiar?"

"Mildly. What else happened in this game?"

"As you removed those items we discussed, I would describe how I would kiss your newly exposed parts."

"I'm starting to get the picture."

"EMMETT!" Edward yelled as he thumped the wall.

I chuckled. "Sorry, Rosie! I can't seem to block well enough to spare our little brother. Guess I'll have to remind you about this game another time. Besides, it's time for me to hang up."

"Tell the prude I said goodnight. And tell Jasper that Alice says he shouldn't mess with Edward's emotions tonight. She says very bad things will happen and that Jazz should re-read his text message if he has any further questions."

"Will do. Love you."

"You too, you big bear."

"Night, Rosie."

"Night, Emmett."

**ERERERERERERERERERERERERERERERERER**

JASPER:

I hated talking on the phone, but I hated not hearing Alice's voice more. I sat on the sofa, holding the little silver phone, wondering just how much of my day to talk to her about. She'd probably seen it all anyway.

My phone started vibrating. I flipped it open with a big grin on my face. "Hello, Alice."

"Hi, Jazzy. A little indecisive tonight are we?"

"Just a little."

"Be sure to keep track of that picture. I have big plans for it."

I laughed. "Did you see the whole thing?"

"No. Just that you decided to buy the picture. You'll have to tell me all about the actual incident."

"I will. As soon as I get home. But you can't let Emmett know that you know."

"What fun is that?" she chuckled.

"I'm sure you'll think of something, dear Alice."

"I have a little something special in mind for his next birthday."

"Sounds intriguing! Want to share?"

"I was just thinking that Emmett would really enjoy a nice Disney themed birthday party. There's a particular cartoon that I just know he loves."

"Just how often are you checking up on us, Alice?" I laughed.

"Enough to make sure the three of you stay out of trouble."

"Yeah, well, I think that particular party would be a huge bust if you went with that theme."

"I have many themes in mind, Jazzy. The one I pick will depend on Emmett."

"You are way too good at being evil, little miss."

"I can't help that my husband is a tactical genius and he's rubbed off on me." We laughed together.

"So Edward says he's been blackmailed into a birthday party. Care to explain?"

"That brother of mine," she grumbled. "If he wants a present, then he needs a party. Besides, the party is more for Bella than him. Think of how happy she'll be to actually be surprising him and getting him a gift for a change!"

"How's it going to be a surprise if he already knows about it?"

"Because, silly! Bella doesn't know that he knows and I have Edward's word that he will act surprised. And you can always help me make sure he's believable."

"I love how you assume I will help with all of your little plots."

"I know you will. You love me."

"Very much," I said with a smile. "Are you girls bored yet?"

"Never! Think of who you're talking too! I have a million ideas!"

"Yes, but Bella is still on lockdown."

"I know. This would be so much easier if we could just take her to the mall. But since Carlisle doesn't know about our little expedition in New York, he has no reason to release her yet."

"You could always tell him."

"Nope. I saw what happens if we tell him. It's not pretty."

"That doesn't sound like Carlisle."

"Oh, he's not the problem. Esme is the one who grounds us and gives Edward and I a very special lecture about Bella's safety."

"Messing with the momma bear's cub?"

"Something like that," Alice laughed. "Emmett's going to want to go back to the casino when you hang up with me. He's going to try to get you to mess with Edward over something that was said on the plane ride. Don't do it. It has very ugly consequences. And Emmett will tell you the same thing in a bit. I had Rose tell him to try to keep him from asking for your help."

"I'm a big boy, Alice. I can refuse Emmett's dare on my own."

"But only until he mentions the south, Jazzy. That's when you'll get your designer briefs in a bunch."

"What are you doing peaking at my underwear, Alice?"

"Ha, ha! Feeling pretty hilarious tonight, are we?"

"Actually, I'm feeling Emmett's lust mixed with a little loneliness, and Edward's longing to be with Bella again. Hold on just one second." I sent Edward a wave of calm.

"Thank you, Jasper," Edward called from the other room.

"Welcome!" I replied to him. "Okay, now where were we?"

"That was sweet of you, Jazzy. That's one of the reasons I love you so much."

"What are the other reasons?"

"You are kind and caring and you love our family very much. You have a great sense of humor. You don't complain too much about my shopping. You let me help pick out your clothes."

"You're better at it than me."

"You compliment me," Alice laughed. "You are wonderful, Jazzy."

"So are you, Alice."

"Our hour is up."

"Of course you would know about the rules too," I chuckled. "I love you, Alice. We'll do something special together when I get home. Try not to peak."

"I will do my best, but you know I can't always stop myself. Love you, Jazzy! Stay out of jail!"

"I will do _my_ best. Say hi to my sisters for me. Talk to you tomorrow."

I closed the little phone and smiled happily. I was one lucky vampire. After the way my life started out, I never would have believed I would end up where I currently was. I had the most wonderful, loving wife a man could ask for. Sure, she was a little addicted to shopping and she could be really pushy. But she had a very big heart and loved fiercer than her small frame should have been capable of.

I heard a loud thump and Edward yelling Emmett's name. I felt Emmett's lust turn to humor. I shook my head. Some things never changed! I laughed to myself as I got up to retrieve my brothers so we could head down for some more casino action.


	5. OldFriend Jasper

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creations of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Edward, Emmett and Jasper head to Vegas for four days and three nights of gambling and fun.

**An Old Friend**

JASPER:

It was just after two in the morning when we made our way back into the casino. I was glad it was less crowded in here now. I was doing much better with my control, but I didn't like to push it. Being out in the fresh air earlier had been a big help. I wish the coaster wouldn't have closed so early.

"Gentlemen, what shall we try our hands at now?" Emmett asked, rubbing his hands together and showing a toothy grin.

"Three card poker," Edward offered. "Three ways to bet."

"I think we're finally starting to rub off on our little brother," Emmett said proudly, slinging an arm around Edward's shoulders.

"Hardly," Edward muttered, slinking out from under Emmett's arm.

"Want to mess with the dealer and start betting exactly the same as each other?" I asked, grinning. They both nodded their heads enthusiastically. Sometimes, vampire hearing and speech really came in handy.

"Let's get our chips and get started," Emmett chuckled, striding over to the counter. We grabbed our chips and found a table.

"Hello, gentleman," the dealer greeted us. He was feeling particularly happy today.

I wondered what had him in such a good mood. I wished I could get Edward to find out. Emmett and his damn rules! This whole not using our powers thing was harder than I thought. We got so much more information out of the humans when we used them.

"What's up?" Emmett said with a nod of his head.

"Pretty slow going in my section. Glad to have some live bodies," the dealer said.

The three of us looked at each other and burst into laughter. This guy was so far off! He had no idea! Live bodies! The poor dealer was confused and worried now. He probably thought we were drunk or high.

"We just always heard that Vegas is the city that never sleeps," Edward said, smiling to put the guy at ease. It worked. The guy was back to being happy and relaxed.

"Place your bets, gentlemen and we can get this game started," the dealer instructed.

I decided to stay small and only put up ten dollars to start. Emmett was feeling rather confident and put up thirty. Edward split the difference and bet twenty. The dealer dealt three cards to each of us and himself. We all lifted our cards and looked at them.

"Fold," Edward whispered.

"Fold," Emmett agreed.

"Damn," I whispered. "I actually would have had a descent hand."

"Let's start with you on the left," the dealer said, pointing at Edward.

"Fold," Edward said, putting down his cards.

The dealer looked to Emmett. Emmett held his up and playfully slammed the cards down. "Fold."

The dealer turned to me and I smiled at him. "Fold."

The dealer looked at all three of us. "That's never happened before," he said more to himself than us. "I've never had everyone fold on me."

"We're starting out with some rough luck," Emmett told the dealer. "I'd forgotten how much fun this is," he whispered low for us. "Let's all bet against the dealer this round no matter what we have."

We all bet ten this time. The dealer gave us our cards again. My hand might possibly be a winner. I chuckled as I pictured this guy's reaction to our similar bets.

"Ten against the dealer," Edward said, pushing his chip forward.

"I'm gonna have to bet against you, old boy," Emmett said, pushing his own chip toward the dealer.

"Against the dealer," I said, lightly tossing my chip into the pile.

"Wow! You three seem pretty confident," the dealer said. He was feeling very suspicious all of a sudden. The dealer flipped his cards over and had a pair of eights.

Edward smirked as he flipped his cards over. He had a pair of tens. Emmett growled. He had nothing. I chuckled as I flipped mine over. I had two kings.

We continued to play and mess with the dealer for another twenty minutes. That was when I looked up and spotted an old friend of ours. One that I just knew Edward would be so happy to see. Thank God for Emmett's rules! If Edward had free use of his power, he would have already spotted our friend and I wouldn't get to have any fun.

I nudged Emmett and lightly jerked my head toward the friend. Emmett understood and played along. He leaned back and pretended to stretch as he scanned the room. He sat up again and nodded his head the slightest bit. We needed to get away from Edward for a moment. I made a decision and hoped Alice would see it.

"I'm getting bored. Emmett, want to try your hand at craps?" I asked.

"Sounds like a plan," Emmett said, standing up.

Edward's phone started ringing. God bless my wife! "It's Bella. I'll be right back," Edward said as he ran off to somewhere more private.

"Talk about timing," Emmett chuckled.

"That was all my beautiful wife and we will owe her a huge favor when we get home," I informed him. "I have a plan."

"I figured as much. Clue me in, Major," Emmett said. "I owe our favorite little brother for a few plane ride comments."

"We have to get our friend to take notice of Edward first. Then, we fill our friend with a few key emotions and watch the fireworks."

"Okay, but you can't mess with Edward's emotions. Rose warned me that we'd all get into a lot of trouble."

"Alice gave me the same warning."

"They don't trust us at all."

"Why should they?" I laughed. "We don't give them a reason to!"

"It's not our faults that we get bored easily."

"Let's just get over there. Edward's five minutes will be up shortly," I told him. We made our way over to the slot area where our friend had gone. Emmett and I took seats on either side of our friend. Our friend was concentrating very hard on pulling the arm of the slot machine. Our friend was confident about something, but I don't think it was winning. I pushed a little paranoia on our friend just so that we would be noticed.

I watched our friend's head shoot up and look at Emmett then turn and look at me. Our friend turned back to Emmett. "Emmett Cullen?"

Emmett turned toward our friend and smiled his toothy grin. "Oh, hey! Look who it is, Jazz! What are you doing out here?"

"Just gambling a little," our friend said.

"Aren't you too young?" I asked, drawing our friend's attention.

"Aren't you?" our friend snapped.

"Where'd you get your ID?" Emmett asked. "I want to compare it to mine to see if the quality of work is the same."

Our friend pulled out the ID and passed it to Emmett. "Are you here alone?" I asked our friend. It was just the distraction Emmett needed to pocket the ID.

"Yeah. My friends were supposed to come, but they flaked out at the last second," our friend replied. "Hey, Bella wouldn't happen to be with you guys, would she? I'd like to say hello to her if she is."

"Actually, it's just us and Edward," Emmett informed our friend. "They needed a little break from each other, if you know what I mean."

"Really?" The excitement and hope coming from our friend was ridiculous. "Maybe I should call her just to check on her," our friend offered.

"You know, maybe you should," Emmett agreed. He smacked his hand to his forehead for show. "I completely forgot! Jazz and I left our phones up in our room. You'll have to get her number from Edward."

"There you two are!" Edward said loudly. "I've been looking everywhere. What are you doing at the slots? You hate them."

I moved to the side so Edward could see our friend. "We just ran into an old friend and wanted to say hello. You should be polite and say hello, Edward."

"Newton," Edward snarled.

"Cullen," Mike replied with equal distaste. I sent a large amount of confidence and smugness Mike's way.

"What are you doing here?" Edward asked, folding his arms over his chest.

"Same as you. Gambling," Mike said. "I would have thought it was obvious. Guess you didn't get the brains with the looks." Edward made to move forward and I held up a hand. Mike continued speaking. "I'd appreciate you handing over Bella's phone number now. I really don't want to waste all night talking to you when I could be talking to her."

Edward's eyes flashed black and his anger nearly caught me off guard. Who knew it took so little? Emmett and I exchanged a glance and snickered. "Why would I give you _my_ wife's number?" Edward hissed.

"She's not here with you. So I figured I'd call her up and make sure she's not lonely. I want her to know I've got two shoulders for her to use as she pleases," Mike answered.

Emmett and I looked at the little human and then at Edward. I hadn't given him that much emotion! Oh, this was not going well. I tried sending a little fear Mike's way, but I messed up and sent him some of Edward's anger.

Mike jumped off his stool and stood toe to toe with Edward. Actually, it was more forehead to chin, but that's not the point. "Bella might just want to talk to me," Mike yelled. "And with you here, you can't tell her what to do and force her to ignore me. If it hadn't been for you brainwashing her, she would have been with me! I bet I could satisfy her in ways you couldn't dream of."

Emmett snorted hard and fell off his stool. Edward's lips were twitching. He was no longer angry. He was filled with humor. He wanted nothing more than to laugh in Mike's face. There was nothing about this puny little human that Bella would find satisfying.

I sent a little indecision and panic Mike's way. He immediately started to backtrack. "Well … I … I don't know where that came from. Sorry about that Edward. I … maybe there was something in my drink. I … if you could just not mention to Bella that I ran into you … or … or said anything at all. Hope you guys are happy being married. I gotta go!" And just like that, Newton was running out of the casino.

"What was that all about?" Edward laughed as he watched Mike's retreat.

"We just thought we'd have a little fun with him," I explained.

"I thought he was going to try and hit you," Emmett roared.

"Was there even a point to that?" Edward asked, looking at us closely.

Emmett held the piece of plastic between his massive fingers. "Yes. This was only stage one of our master plan."

"What's stage two?" Edward asked with genuine interest.

"Time to play a round of 'Stupid Criminal'," Emmett informed him. The mischief was rolling off of my brother. "A little Vegas B&E with a dropped ID. We'll be suspending the power rule for a bit."

"And just where will the B&E be occurring?" Edward questioned, lifting an eyebrow.

We pulled Edward close and whispered our secret plan to him. As we revealed our master plan, Edward's excitement and humor increased. He was grinning that crooked way that Bella seemed to like a lot. He was obviously on board with our plan. Now we just needed to change and put our plan into action. I was sure I could rely on Alice to have packed us the proper clothing for our mission. We headed out of the casino and up to our room to prepare.

Just as I expected, each of us found a pair of black jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt with black gloves. We stuffed the sweatshirts and gloves into a bag and changed into the jeans. Emmett found a tin of shoe polish in his bag and decided to put some war paint on his cheeks. Our excitement was palpable as we readied ourselves. Emmett had brought his laptop along and he quickly jumped on the internet to find all of the locations we would be visiting. Once we had the directions for the places, we were ready. We snuck out of the hotel and ran to the future scene of the crime.

Edward made sure no one was around and then we slipped into the place. Emmett grabbed a basket and began to fill it with the items that the 'Criminal' would be stealing. Edward and I ran up and down the one aisle we were working with and made it look ransacked. Emmett then carefully placed the ID card under a few items, upside down. We slipped out of the store and dropped the 'stolen' items off at a place we knew they would be used wisely.

"Don't you think it's a little insensitive of us?" Edward asked as we strolled away from our drop off point.

"No more insensitive than the scholarly humans trying to make those people feel bad about what they like," Emmett quipped.

"We just provided a valuable public service to those people," I told Edward. "They will be very happy to find their gifts."

"How long do you think it will take before someone notices the crime scene?" Emmett asked as he bounced down the sidewalk.

"It's four now and they open at seven, so probably in about two and half hours," I replied.

"Think it will make the daily paper in time?" Edward smirked.

"Doubtful," I said. "But I bet it makes the internet news later on."

"I say we head back to the hotel and play some Xbox until later. The sun will be up before we know it and we'll be trapped in doors."

"You brought the Xbox?" Edward laughed.

"Duh!" Emmett replied, rolling his eyes. "What else would we do for hours and hours while we wait for the sun to set?"

"I have something we can do," Edward said, smiling. "First, I think we definitely need to take the S63 out for a drive."

"Why? Aren't you getting one in a few days?" Emmett balked.

"You said you wanted a turn at driving it," Edward said, trying to coax Emmett into it. "Besides, I want to drive it for more than a few minutes to make sure I really want one. I need a longer test drive. We can go upstate a little, and do a quick hunt. I also have something in mind for when we get back into town. And the hoodies we have will make it work out perfectly."

Emmett looked over at me. Edward was feeling excitement and confidence. He must be pretty sure of his plan. I nodded my head in agreement. Hopefully, Edward had a good idea and we wouldn't end up bored listening to some old, depressing music somewhere.


	6. DrivingDesire Edward

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creations of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Edward, Emmett and Jasper head to Vegas for four days and three nights of gambling and fun. **I was going to draw this out longer, but after I ended up with all 11 chapters after thinking it was going to be 4 at most, it made me add an extra chapter to ****My First Year as a Cullen****. And in order for that chapter to make sense, I have to release all of ****Sin City**** to you guys. I really hope you all like it!!! Thanks to Jexena for being my loyal pre-reader!**

**Driving Desire**

EDWARD:

Emmett was much more agreeable to my plan once I mentioned that he would get to drive us out of town. It was killing me to sit in the passenger seat, but at least I would get to drive on the way back. I'd already made up my mind that I was getting this car, but my brothers didn't need to know that.

"Damn, this is a nice ride," Emmett commented. "Not as heavy duty as my jeep, but not bad. I'm only slightly cramped."

"Don't put yourself through any unnecessary discomfort. I'll be more than happy to drive," I offered.

"You wish!" Emmett snorted.

"Yes, he does," Jasper agreed.

"Do you think they've picked up our little friend yet?" I asked, smirking.

"We have to buy a paper later," Jasper said. "Add it to our collection of pranks that made the news."

"Emmett, you'll need to slow down up ahead. There's a very bored policeman who would love to pull over a fancy car today. He's thinking that even one mile over the speed limit will be a good enough excuse for him to harass the driver," I informed my brother.

"It's so nice to have a personal radar detector," Emmett chuckled as he let off the gas.

"Wonder what the girls are doing," Jasper mused.

"I'm sure it involves Bella doing something she wouldn't normally do," Emmett laughed.

"They are good at getting her to bend to their will," I chuckled. "They prey on her guilt."

"Edward, you should really have a talk with her before she completely goes over to the dark side," Emmett warned. "Right now, she's still neutral and will help us as willingly as she'll help the girls. But if they get any closer, we'll lose Bella from our side."

"You're just worried she'll help them prank you." I snorted, turning to look at my brother better. "It's not like Bella would never really prank me. The one time she did was to get you to behave." Emmett and Jasper started laughing loudly. Jasper was pounding the back of my seat and Emmett's big paw was slapping at the steering wheel. I reached out and grabbed Emmett's wrist. "Be nice to the car, Emmett."

"Edward, you are so young and innocent," Jasper chuckled.

"We have really got to have a long overdue talk with you, little brother," Emmett said.

"About?" I asked.

"About this notion of yours that you will never screw up and anger Bella," Jasper informed me. "No couple throughout history has ever managed to have every day be perfect."

"You see how often Rose and Alice get mad at us," Emmett added.

"That's because you two are morons most of the time," I explained.

"Hear that, Jazz? We're morons. That's the only reason our wives get mad at us," Emmett said sarcastically.

"Look, I'm not saying that Bella won't ever get angry at me," I replied. "I'm just saying that she's not like Rose and Alice. If she has a problem with me, she'll tell me. More like yell at me, but she'll still tell me. She won't stoop to revenge."

"Revenge is a fine art!" Emmett argued. "It's not about stooping! It's about payback!"

"Edward, our pranks don't have anything to do with stooping or really even payback. The payback is a side effect," Jasper explained. "The whole concept of the prank is to take a tense situation and turn it into a humorous one. In all the years that we've pranked each other, has there ever been one that we didn't find funny later on? Or that wasn't forgiven?"

"The pink incident," Emmett grumbled.

"That one doesn't count!" Edward laughed. "Everyone in Forks found that funny!"

"You ruined the color for me, Edward!" Emmett snarled.

"You created an email address, linked it to my real email and got my inbox bombarded by hundreds of emails from horny humans," I argued. "What I did to you was letting you off easy!"

"Let's just agree to disagree on that and get back to the main point of this conversation," Jasper offered. "The point is that you need to prepare yourself for the possibility that you don't know everything."

"I don't think I know everything," I answered. Both of my brothers snorted at me. "I just think I've been with Bella long enough that I can guess her reactions."

"Edward!" Emmett laughed. "You don't even know what she'll say half the time! How could you possibly expect to guess her reactions?"

"She has patterns. She reacts to a lot of situations in very similar ways," I explained.

"This is pointless," Jasper sighed. "Save your breath, Emmett. Let him find out on his own."

"Yeah, let's just enjoy Edward not driving this car!" Emmett chuckled.

"Have you given any more thought to when we'll return to Forks?" Jasper asked.

"Some," I replied. If only my brothers knew how much of an understatement that was! I had thought of nothing else since Bella had stated she wouldn't attend college without seeing her parents first. Carlisle was confident the treaty was intact and that we wouldn't have any trouble. I knew Bella would be fine and not have any control issues. But I worried very much about her emotional state, especially once she realized it would be the last time she saw her father. "I was thinking maybe toward the end of August."

"I wonder if we'll get to fight any wolves this time," Emmett said.

I glared at my brother. "Let's try not to."

"Yeah, I guess Bella wouldn't like it too much if we hurt her pet dog," Emmett grumbled.

"Bella will be focused on seeing Charlie again. I doubt she'll even see the mutt," I said.

"At least we know she'll be fine seeing him up close," Jasper stated.

"She's very relieved about that," I said. Ever since New York, Bella had been dropping subtle hints about how easy of a time she would have on a regular plane and with being near her parents. "I'm still having trouble figuring out how to get her to Jacksonville to see her mother. The damn sun is such a problem and I know Bella won't be satisfied with just a single night. She'll want a few days."

"Does she know we'll be arranging her death before the year is up?" Jasper asked.

I shook my head. "I haven't found the right time to tell her yet."

"You mean you keep chickening out of telling her because you can't stand to hurt her," Emmett said.

I nodded my head. "That too." I was terrified to tell her. What if leaving Charlie behind was the thing that made her regret our life together? As wonderful as these months had been for us, I knew they had been tough on my sweet Bella.

"Do you want one of us to break it to Squirt?" Emmett asked. "Maybe Alice and Rose should do it. Or even Esme."

"No," I sighed. "I'm the one who needs to do it. She's going through this because she chose to be with me. It would be really selfish of me to leave this for anyone else to deal with. Besides, I'm pretty sure allowing someone else to tell her would certainly set off her temper."

It was nearly two in the afternoon when we started to get near Vegas again. We'd had a nice drive and hunted well. I was happily behind the wheel of the S63 again. Jasper was up front and Emmett had moved to the back. I listened to their banter about the upcoming football season and which teams they thought would win in the coming year. I was content to drive and think of Bella.

I had to keep reminding myself that this was only my second day without her. The ache in my heart made me feel like it had been weeks. If not for Emmett's rules, I probably would have been in the hotel room talking to her. I wondered if she was missing me in the same way. She was probably too busy with my sisters to notice. But I wanted her to stay busy and not be sad.

My phone started to play her lullaby. I smiled as I pulled it out and answered it. "Hello, love."

"Alice mentioned that you might need a little cheering up. Also, she says to tell you that your plan for today will be a big hit."

"Has she told you my plan?"

"Yes! And we've been picturing Emmett scrunched up in one of those!" Bella laughed. Her laugh was just what I needed to hear. I felt myself relaxing and the ache backing off. "How's the weather out there?"

"Warm and sunny."

"Be careful not to go all glittery and scare the humans."

I laughed at my beautiful wife's joke. "I have my hoodie here in the car with me. I will spare the poor humans."

"That's my good little vampire."

"Bella," I chuckled. "You are ridiculous."

"Yep! And you love me for it."

"More than you know."

"Are you cheered up?"

"Very much. Thank you."

"Good. Now go have some fun and kick Emmett's butt for me! Tell Jazz I'm almost done with my book and we can argue about it when you guys get home."

"I will do both of those."

"I love you, Edward."

"I love you. Talk to you tonight." I closed my phone and smiled again. She really was perfect in so many ways.

"What did the Squirt have good to say?" Emmett asked.

"Not much," I shrugged. "She says 'hi' to you both. Jasper, she wants you to know she'll be ready to argue her book when we get home."

"Finally! She's the slowest vampire reader I know!" Jasper chuckled.

"That's because Edward keeps interrupting her!" Emmett laughed. "How much longer until we get to this big secret activity of yours?"

"A few more minutes," I answered. I pulled the S63 into an empty spot far away from the other cars. I hated to end my drive so soon, but I knew my brothers would enjoy this activity. "Put on your sweatshirts and follow me."

We put on our shirts and pulled the hoods up tight around our faces. As we got out of the car, we all shoved our hands into our pockets. We must have been an interesting sight in hooded sweatshirts in June in the Vegas heat. I took them around the corner, making sure they couldn't tell where we were until we were almost near the door.

"No friggin' way!" Emmett yelled as he saw the sign on the warehouse-looking building.

"How did you find this place?" Jasper asked with a big smile.

"Internet," I shrugged.

"I just can't believe it," Emmett said, shaking his head. "It's like they knew I was coming and built it just for me."

"Yes, Emmett!" I laughed. "The world revolves around you just enough for that to happen."

"Walk faster, boys!" Jasper ordered. "I want to get in there!"

I had started off looking for an indoor pool for Emmett last night, but decided I wasn't in the mood for dealing with the girls that were sure to follow us. I really wanted to drive more, but knew my brothers would get bored quickly just riding around in the S63. That led me to think of go-karts. Driving and competition all rolled into one! There happened to be an indoor go-kart racing facility called Fast Lap.

"Edward, you are officially a fun guy. I'm retiring 'prude' from my list of descriptive words for you," Emmett announced.

"Say it ain't so!" Jasper chuckled. "Are you sure you want to retire it, Emmett?"

"Jazz! The Stiff found us daytime go-kart racing in one of the sunniest places around! He deserves something special," Emmett replied.

"How is _stiff_ any better than _prude_?" I asked, offended.

"Because stiff has greater potential for improvement," Emmett replied with a straight face.

"Let it go," Jasper advised. "If you ask for any further clarification, you might blow the few brain cells he has." I chuckled and nodded.

Emmett dashed over to the counter where a bored looking girl stood near the register. "Missy, we need three cars right away. I've got two brothers to shame!"

"Does it count if we're _a_-shamed?" I whispered to Jasper. He chuckled.

The girl gave Emmett a sheet of rules to look over while she found our karts. "Look at this!" Emmett growled. "We do not tolerate any bumping and or blocking! Don't these people realize that's half the fun?"

"The race is over if you damage the kart," I announced, pointing at the rule. "We don't want to get thrown out, so you better be careful, Em."

"No displays of physical or verbal aggression!" Jasper whined. "What the hell!"

"The verbal won't count for us," Emmett said proudly. "No one will hear us if we watch our volume."

"This place has too many rules," Jasper sighed. He suddenly perked up and smiled brightly. "I have the best idea ever!"

"What's that?" I asked, knowing it wouldn't even be close.

"We get Esme to let us build our own indoor track at the new house when we move for school," Jasper announced.

"Yes!" Emmett hissed. "Rose can build us our own karts with some real power! And we can do all the bumping and blocking we want!"

"It'll need to be soundproof so Esme doesn't have to hear our language," I said. This really was one of Jasper's better ideas.

"I bet we can even get the girls excited about this idea! If we have them talk to Esme with us, I know she'll let us do it," Emmett added.

The karts were finally brought over to us. Jasper went to follow Emmett over, but I grabbed his arm and held up a finger. He shrugged, but waited with me. We watched Emmett try to figure out how to comfortably fit onto the go-kart. When he finally got on it, he looked like someone had stuffed a tiger into a gerbil cage. Jasper and I were holding on to each other and laughing.

"If you two are done, I'd like to start racing," Emmett snarled.

"I can't wait to describe that to Bella tonight!" I chuckled as I got into my own go-kart.

"One thing's for sure," Jasper said. "Rose is going to have to make a bigger kart for him!"

Most of my time was spent laughing too hard to really pay attention to what I was doing. Emmett was so cramped in his go-kart that when he pressed the gas, his foot would hit the brake at the same time. And every time he went into a turn, his hands and knees smacked against the little steering wheel! Jasper was alternating between laughing at Emmett and leaning far over the steering wheel with a scarily determined look on his face. Each time I would get close to passing Jasper, he would hit me with another wave of humor for Emmett's predicament. I didn't even care at that point. We were getting along and no one was offended by the taunting, so it was a good afternoon.

When we got back to the hotel just after dark, we pulled out Emmett's laptop to check the local news websites. On the third site we tried, we found our article in the 'Strange, but True' section:

_Police are baffled by an early morning break in at a local adult toy store. The perpetrator stole over three thousand dollars worth of male erotica items. Stranger still, the man accused donated all of the items to a Christian group that specializes on reprogramming gay men. The man in question was identified quickly by police when it was discovered that he had dropped his driver's license at the scene of the crime._

_The Christian group in question returned all of the stolen merchandise to the store owner. The owner had no comment, other than to say he would not be pressing charges. It looked like the thief was having a lucky day after all. That was until police discovered the license found at the scene was a fake. Now, nineteen year old Michaal Newton from Fork, Washington is being charged with providing false information. His arraignment is scheduled for first thing Monday morning. Just another example of how a crazy night in Vegas leads to a long weekend in jail._

"Jasper, I want this article printed and framed as soon as we get home," Emmett commanded. "It must be prominently displayed in the house."

"You better think of some place Esme never goes," I laughed. "She'll kill us if she finds out we got him arrested on a Saturday morning, forcing him to spend the weekend in jail."

"Should we go visit him?" Jasper laughed. "See if he needs anything special for his little vacation?"

"I think we've done enough damage to Newton for quite a while," I laughed.

"If that's the case," Emmett said, jumping up from the sofa. "It's Pirate Time, boys! Go change!"


	7. AhoyMatey Emmett

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creations of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Edward, Emmett and Jasper head to Vegas for four days and three nights of gambling and fun.

**Ahoy, Matey!**

EMMETT:

Pirates! We're going to see some pirates! Did I mention pirates? If only Rose would let me get away with pretending to be a pirate … she could have a lovely time as my wench. I could show her my skills as a swashbuckler. I chuckled to myself. She would have just smacked me if she had been here. But sadly, Rose doesn't like pirates. I think the puffy shirts and eye-patches turn her off.

I had a great plan to kidnap Bella. I was going to pretend I was a pirate and swing in through a window as if I was swinging across the galley on a sail line. Bella was too worried about Esme's reaction to a broken window to let me go through with the plan. I tried to tell her Esme would be forgiving, but Bella just shook her head and laughed. I sure hope Rosie doesn't find out about that plot.

None of that matters right now anyway because we are on our way to see Pirates! Supposedly, there is a real pirate ship in the bay in front of this hotel and everything! I wonder if I can get them to let me on the ship. '_It'll have to be after the performance_,' I thought, rolling my eyes. Stupid brothers made it a rule that I can't join in the show. Wonder if the ship has cannons …

"Emmett!" Edward called through his laughter. What was he laughing about? What did I miss?

"What?" I replied.

"Stop!" Edward laughed. "You're killing me! I've been calling your name for five minutes! You just keep staring at the wall and thinking about pirates!"

"He's awfully excited," Jasper smirked. "Maybe we should just stay in for the night. Actually getting there might be too much for his little vampire heart!"

"Ha, Ha!" I sneered. "We are going!" Oh! Oh, that's just perfect! I'll show my brothers! They forgot a little rule.

Edward spun around and his eyes were huge as he registered my thoughts. "Emmett, no!"

"Sorry, you forget to make it a rule," I sighed, blowing on my nails and wiping them across my shirt.

"What is it?" Jasper asked. "Edward, why are you panicked? What's going on?"

"Jasper, calm yourself, please," I said, rolling my eyes. "Stiff here just heard something he didn't like too much."

"Emmett plans to speak in pirate talk from the moment we step foot out of that door," Edward said, pointing at the door with a look of pure horror on his face.

"Emmett!" Jasper squeaked. "Don't do it man! Think about your brothers!"

"Oh, I am absolutely thinking about my brothers!" I informed them with a wicked grin.

"Was it the go-kart thing?" Jasper asked. He was really in a panic now. "We can apologize for that! We can make it up to you some how! Please don't do it, Emmett!"

"It's cruel and unusual punishment, even for a vampire," Edward added.

I just chuckled at my brothers. I was not giving in on this. They would just have to deal with it. I strode over to the door and opened it wide, giving them my best grin. They both sighed and hung their heads as they moved out into the hall.

As we waited for the elevator, I decided to start having my fun. "Arrr, the ele'ator is slow. Aye, me parrot concurs!"

"What parrot?" Jasper screeched.

"Just shut up, Jasper! I'm getting into the part," I said. We stepped off the elevator and a little old man was getting on. I spun around and said to him, "Aye, e'enin' sir Aye."

"Emmett, leave the poor humans alone," Edward sighed. "You'll scare them."

"Isn't it enough that he's _scarring_ us?" Jasper grumbled.

"Where be your sense o' adventure, ye landlubbers?" I asked.

"It's going to be a long night," Edward sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as we left the hotel.

I snickered to myself. I was just getting warmed up! "Listen up, ye lily-livered sprogs! We be settin' out in search o' fun. Stop ye grumblin' or I'll send you down to Davey Jones' Locker!"

"A very long night," Jasper muttered.

I decided it was time to torture my brothers with their own minds. I walked a little ahead of them and remained quiet as we headed toward the show.

"What's he thinking?" Jasper asked Edward.

"He's singing 'Pirate's life for me' in his head," Edward answered him.

"He's too quiet! I don't like it," Jasper said.

"We can't do anything about it now," Edward sighed.

"He's plotting something," Jasper hissed. "I know it."

"He's still singing so if there is a master plan, he thought of it long before now," Edward told him.

"Great! Our worst nightmare … Emmett with a well thought-out plot!" Jasper snarled.

Idiots! Just because I'm not talking doesn't mean I can't hear them! I'm a vampire! Hello! Super sensitive hearing! Stupid brothers! I just shook my head as I continued my walk. They would pay! I looked up to see the pirate ship starting to come into view. I rubbed my hands together in anticipation of what was to come! Pirates, damn it!

"Avast mateys! We be findin' our booty right over thar!" I said loudly, making a number of humans turn and look at us. Just what I wanted! Edward and Jasper started staring at anything but me and pretending they didn't know me. I ran up behind them and put an arm on each of their shoulders. "Let's not be keepin' me waitin', boys! Thar be a show to watch!" I pulled them both into the seating area for the show, trying to move them toward the very front.

"If you want to make a fool of yourself down front, go right ahead," Edward said. "But I'm staying here." He crossed his arms over his chest as proof of his stubbornness. As if I needed proof! I shook my head at him and turned toward Jasper.

"Don't even look at me," Jasper growled. "I'm staying right here next to Edward."

"Give me one good reason why you two won't sit up front with me!" I fussed.

"You!" they both yelled.

I gave in. I would just have to make the most of standing back here. The ship was pretty impressive. I didn't know if the cannons on it worked or not, but they sure looked authentic. The spiral staircase in the middle of a pirate ship threw me, but this is Vegas after all. I looked down front to see a group of little kids with blow-up swords. I wondered where they got them from.

"No," Edward said.

"You're not supposed to be doing that," I told him.

"You're screaming it," he sighed, rubbing his temples. "You'll just pop it as soon as you get it."

"So what, now you can see the future like Alice?" I complained.

"I don't need to see the future to know that a blow-up sword in your big paw will get busted pretty quickly. And frankly, I'm not in the mood to see a grown man cry over a broken toy," Edward explained.

"I don't cry!" I hissed.

"Just watch the show, Emmett," Jasper said.

I tried to watch the show. I had wanted to watch the show. But this was not the show I had pictured in my head. I was ready for manly men fighting it out with swords up and down the galley and someone having to walk the plank! This was singing and dancing around the ship. And while I appreciated the hot girls dancing around for my entertainment, it wasn't what I wanted.

I decided to amp up my excitement, knowing Jasper wouldn't be able to resist. "Sword fight!" I whisper yelled to him.

"With what?" Jasper asked. I could tell my excitement was starting to get to him. His lips were twitching as he fought a smile.

"Our arms. Stiff here will never see it coming. Think about what his face will look like when he sees us!" I encouraged.

"We need to move down from here. We wouldn't want to take out a human," Jasper said.

"Good point," I replied. Jasper and I moved off to the right, away from the seating. Edward must have been lost in thoughts of Bella because he didn't notice us at first.

Jasper and I just ignored him as we started sword-fighting with our arms. Jasper's excitement became his own pretty quickly as we starting moving around more. Edward had finally noticed us and sauntered over to where we were.

"What are you two doing?" Edward chuckled.

"Swashbucklin', Matey!" I laughed.

"Ye scurvy-dog!" Jasper yelled at me when I smacked his arm good and hard.

"Don't encourage him!" Edward laughed.

"Mommy! Look at the big kids!" a little boy yelled. We turned to see him tugging on his mother's arm and pointing at us. We all smiled at him. For some reason, he didn't seem to like it very much. He stopped tugging on his mom and quickly turned away from us.

"Shame on you, Emmett," Edward teased. "You know better than to scare the little children. What would Esme say if she knew?"

"Tell her and I'll be keelhaulin' ya!" I chuckled as I ducked Jasper's arm.

I took a swing at Jasper, but it didn't go according to plan. We were too close to the edge and Jasper started to fall over. I tried to grab him and he grabbed me and I guess my weight did the rest because we were both in the water. We came up to see Edward doubled over with laughter at the edge. Jasper and I looked at each other and smiled. We swam over as fast as our human spectators would allow and yanked Edward in with us. Surprisingly, he came up laughing.

His smile quickly faded though. "Time to swim away, boys! The rent-a-cops are on their way to collect us for the real cops they just called."

We dove down under the water and swam to the far end of the little makeshift bay. It was a good thing we could stay underwater without needing to breath. We were way to close to getting arrested for my tastes. Edward gave us the thumbs up that no one was near and we surfaced, quickly pulling ourselves up onto dry land.

We took off running back toward our hotel, laughing all the way there. We snuck into the hotel and up to our room, wanting to avoid having to explain why we were soaking wet and laughing like idiots. After we all cleaned up and changed, we met in the main area in front of the TV.

"That was interesting," Edward commented.

"It went better than I expected," Jasper chuckled.

"I told you guys Pirates weren't boring," I said.

"No!" Edward laughed. "Pirates _are_ boring! It's _you_ that makes it interesting!"

"I think my little brother just gave me a compliment," I sniffed, pretending to wipe away a tear.

"Maybe he hit his head when we pulled him into the water," Jasper offered.

"I know one thing!" Edward sighed, staring down at the table in front of us. "We need to find a cell phone store that's open late. These three are ruined."

"Emmett, grab your laptop and find us a store," Jasper ordered.

"Why me?" I asked.

"It's your fault we ended up in the water," Jasper replied.

The hotel phone started to ring. The three of us looked at each other. Who would call us on that phone? Jasper went over to it, looking at it like it might bite him at any moment.

"You're indestructible for God's sake!" I yelled. "Pick the damn thing up!"

Jasper scowled at me as he answered the phone. "Hello? Alice!" Jasper laughed loudly. "Of course. Yes! No, it won't happen again. Thanks, Alice." Jasper hung up the phone and smiled at us. "I'll be right back."

He ran off into one of the bedrooms. He came back in carrying a small brown box. He sat down between Edward and me and opened the box. Three new cell phones were sitting inside.

"She can't warn us about the water," Edward chuckled, shaking his head. "But she can send new phones with us."

"Had she warned us, she wouldn't have gotten to shop for the phones," Jasper laughed.

"We'll have to do something special for her when we get home," I said, taking my new phone from Jasper. Some days, it was really good to have a psychic sister!


	8. PhoneCalls2 All

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creations of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Edward, Emmett and Jasper head to Vegas for four days and three nights of gambling and fun.

**Phone Calls – 2****nd**** night**

EDWARD:

It was finally late enough for my brothers to allow me to call my Bella! I couldn't wait to talk to her about the day we'd had.

Bella picked up on the first ring. "Edward!" she sang.

"Hello, love."

"How was your day?"

"Really good."

"Did you beat Emmett?"

"No," I chuckled. "He pretty much beat himself. He was too big for the go-kart! He kept hitting the gas and brake at the same time." Bella laughed and I smiled. I loved the sound of her care-free laughter. "Jasper was determined to win so he kept making me laugh at Emmett. It made it very difficult to drive."

"Can you guys ever compete without someone cheating?" Bella teased.

"Doubtful," I chuckled. "How was your day?"

"Pretty good. We went hunting and Esme even came along with us. We watched some more movies and Alice decided to do all of our nails. I think she's getting a little bored of being stuck in the house with me. She actually begged Carlisle to let her do his nails! You should have seen the horrified look on his face as he dashed up to the study!"

I laughed, picturing my father running from my sister. "Sounds like it was fun."

"Yeah," Bella sighed. "But I miss you. I wish you were coming home tomorrow."

"Me too. But I think Em and Jazz would be offended if I wanted to leave early."

"Are they being a little nice to you?"

"We're actually getting along really well. It's strange, but we haven't fought that much."

"That much, huh?" Bella chuckled. "Care to tell me why Alice sent new cell phones with you guys?"

I laughed. "Emmett!"

"I figured. What happened?"

"He made us go down to the Pirate show. He ended up getting bored and he and Jazz started pretending to sword fight. One thing led to another and we all ended up in the water, narrowly avoiding arrest."

"Edward!" Bella sighed. I could just imagine her rolling her eyes. "You three find more ways to get into trouble."

"This trip was your idea, my beautiful wife."

"Are you implying somehow that your dip in the bay is my fault?"

"Nope," I chuckled.

"Didn't think so!" Bella teased. "So do you really miss me?"

"Very much, love. Enough that it hurts."

"Me too. Do you think it will always be like this?"

"I don't know."

"Do we feel this way because we came so close to loosing each other?"

"I don't know that either, love."

"Well, you're no help," Bella teased.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"We should do something together when I get back. Just the two of us. We'll spend the whole day together."

"Our choices will be rather limited," Bella chuckled. "But as long as you're with me, I'm sure we'll have fun. And I'm warning you now! No Bella Barbie beforehand!"

"Agreed," I chuckled. "You don't need it anyway. You're beautiful just the way you are." She was silent and I knew she would be blushing if she could. "I mean that, Bella. No matter what you wear, or don't wear …" I chuckled. "…you are the most beautiful creature I've ever seen."

"Thank you, Edward," she said softly.

"Bella, please don't be sad. I'll be home soon."

"I'm trying."

"I shouldn't have come," I whispered.

"No, don't say that, Edward." Bella sighed heavily. "It's good for you to spend time with our brothers. Think of all the missed hunting trips because you've been stuck with me."

"I don't consider it being stuck at all, love."

"I know you don't and I love you for it, but don't you think they miss having you around?"

"They see me every day."

"Yes, but your attention is usually focused on me. This is the first time in a long while that you've been free of distraction."

I laughed. "Bella, I am never free of being distracted by you. You are in my every thought."

"And you're in mine. But you do need to have time to just be a guy with your brothers. This is just the first time that you've been gone for so long. I'll be fine." We lapsed into a comfortable silence.

"Bella, what are you thinking about?" I whispered.

"The same thing I'm always thinking about silly. You! I was just thinking about how I wish you were here to hold me right now."

"I wish that too, love."

"This is much harder without sleep to break up the time."

I chuckled at her. "Yes, I suppose so. Would you like me to hum your lullaby and you can pretend to sleep?"

"I think I would," she sighed. I could hear the smile in her voice. I stretched out on the bed, closed my own eyes, and hummed her lullaby for the rest of our time together.

**EBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEBEB**

EMMETT:

I dialed my Rosie and was surprised when she picked up on the second ring. "Hey, Emmett."

"Are you finally missing me?" I teased. "Two rings and a 'hey' sounds pretty encouraging to me."

"As if you need any encouragement!" Rose scoffed.

"I always need your encouragement, Rosie. How else will I know if I'm doing things correctly?"

"Goof-ball!" she chuckled. "How did you ruin your phone this time? Drop it out a window, throw it at Edward or Jasper, or hold it too tight? Or maybe you misplaced it again?"

"None of the above. Water damage."

"This should be interesting," Rose muttered.

"We went to the Pirate show tonight."

"Say no more!" Rose laughed. "I'm glad you're calling from your cell phone and not a jail cell!"

"Barely." I chuckled.

"Did you scale the ship?"

"No, I was well behaved."

"Then how did you end up in the water?"

"Jasper and I were sword-fighting. He lost his balance and I tried to pull him back, but he pulled me in. And then we decided to pull Edward in with us."

"And you're still alive?"

"Yep! We had a really good day. I even retired 'prude' as one of his nicknames."

"What brought about that momentous occasion?"

"He found us an indoor go-kart racing facility!"

"And earned your undying allegiance," Rose chuckled.

"We have a project for you, Rosie."

"What kind?"

"We want you to help us convince Esme that we need to build our own indoor track at the new house. And we want you to design and build the karts and engines."

"I'm slightly intrigued. You'll have to tell me more about this plan of yours when you get home."

"I'll have a couple of stories to tell you when I get home too."

"I know that tone. What did you do Emmett Cullen?"

"Nothing too bad. We just ran into an old friend and said hello to him."

"Who's the friend?"

"You'll have to wait and find out," I chuckled.

"You're such a tease, Emmett."

"What's that? You want me to tease you, Rosie. I'm sure I can think of a way to do that."

"Don't even attempt it!" Rose warned. "I know where you are in Vegas. You do not want me to come down there."

"Oh, but I do!" I chuckled.

"If you want any kind of welcome home at all, you will change the subject now."

"What should we talk about then?" I asked. Rosie wasn't normally so snappy with me. She must really be missing me. That made me smile. It was nice to know that after all this time she still missed me when I was gone.

"What do you boys have planned for tomorrow?"

"It's going to be sunny again. We plan to have a Halo tournament until the sun sets."

"Another one?"

"We like the game, Rose."

"No, you like winning again and again and again."

"That too," I chuckled. I fell back onto the bed and hooked an arm under my head. "Why don't you tell me about your day now?"

I spent the rest of my time just listening to Rosie's voice as she told me about her day and the plans for tomorrow. I didn't even mind when she went into detail about all the types of nail polish the girls had sifted through today. It was enough to listen to her melodic voice and picture her behind my closed eyelids. The first thing I was going to do when I got home was kiss the hell out of this woman. And then, I was going to disappear with her for a few days and enjoy my welcome home. I chuckled to myself as I continued to listen to my Rosie.

**ERERERERERERERERERERERERERERERERER**

JASPER:

"You're welcome," Alice said as soon as she answered her phone.

"Which thing did you see me thanking you for?" I chuckled.

"The phones."

"Yes, I do appreciate that very much."

"I saw that it would have been an ugly fight with one hotel phone and three lonely men. We are very pleased to know you boys miss us so much," Alice giggled. I love that sound. It was like the ringing of a thousand perfect little bells in a cathedral.

"I also wanted to thank you for the black clothing."

"It went to good use, I assume."

"You didn't peak?"

"Nope! I saved that one for you to tell me about when you get home. As soon as I saw you three sneaking around the city, I pulled away from it. Rose and Bella helped out by starting another pillow fight."

"Another one? How many have you had?"

"A few."

"And did you win?"

"Of course!"

"That's my girl."

"I used the tactical knowledge I have gained from you to maintain the upper hand!" Alice teased.

"I've always said that you are a force to be reckoned with."

"How true that is!" Alice giggled.

"Have you had any visions I should know about?"

"None so far. Everything's still quiet."

"That's good."

"Very!"

"So what did you girls do today?"

"I gave everyone pedicures!" Alice squealed. "I got bubble gum pink and Bella got candy apple red. Rose went with a glittery magenta. Esme picked rose petal pink. I tried to convince Carlisle that some mountain-berry would look great on him, but he just ran away."

"Alice!" I laughed. "Poor Carlisle! It's not enough he's trapped in a house with four women, you have to threaten to paint his toenails?"

"Oh, be quiet!" Alice chuckled. "You let me …"

"Don't you dare say that out loud or it will never happen again!"

"No one is listening on my end."

"That doesn't mean they aren't listening on mine!"

"Fine! How was the swim?"

"Refreshing!" I laughed. "And we kept our promise of staying out of jail."

"So far so good!" Alice sang.

"Any thing I should watch out for tomorrow?"

"Nope. I see you guys playing Halo and then going into the casino. You're fine. Do you want to know who wins?"

"No, thanks. Let it be a surprise."

"So you were really into the go-kart thing today!" Alice laughed.

"Saw that, did you?"

"Yes. I don't even know how to describe what Emmett looked like in that little kart."

"Did you see his decision?"

"No. What did he decide?"

"Nope!" I chuckled. "I need a few things to talk to you about! I'm saving that one."

"If that's how you want to be," Alice teased.

"It is. When I get home, we'll sneak off to our room and I'll regale you with my adventures."

"I look forward to it. And then when we're done, we can go shopping!"

"I think you're rubbing off on me, Alice," I said seriously.

"What do you mean?"

"I could _see_ that shopping was coming my way!" I laughed.

"Ha, Ha, Jazz!" she replied. I knew she was poking her tongue at me.

"Love you, Alice!"

"Yeah, yeah! Love you too, party pooper!"

"Speaking of parties, I want to hear more about what you have in store for Edward."

"Are you guys still banned from using your powers?"

"Yep!"

"Okay! So I was thinking that I would do shades of gold for the banner and streamers. Rose and I are planning to go into town the minute you guys get back so we can get the right tablecloth, balloons, centerpiece, and plates. We also want to get hats and those blower things. And then there's arranging for the actual present to be delivered."

"Is Bella allowed to participate at all?" I joked.

"Yes! She will actually be the one to click the buy button on the website when we're ready to order the car. Also, she'll be in charge of deciding what goes on his cake."

"Alice, Bella is no longer human. Why would you get a cake?"

"Edward hasn't let us celebrate his birthday EVER! He is getting a cake. And if Bella goes with the choice I think she will, it will be perfect!"

"What is she thinking of?"

"You know how they can put pictures on cakes now? Well, Bella is thinking about using a picture of Edward standing in front of his Volvo."

"He would like that."

"See! I told you!"

"What's her other idea?"

Alice snorted. "It's so cheesy, but so them! She was thinking of finding a little toy piano to put on the cake."

"I think you should lean her toward the Volvo."

"Already working on it! And Rose is helping so we'll have her caved in no time!"

"We get back on the eighteenth. That only gives you two days. Are you sure you have enough time?"

"It's not as much as I would like, but I can manage."

"The hard part so far is picking out his birthday suit."

"What?" I chuckled.

"His birthday suit. You have to have one. I read it somewhere."

"Alice, I think you better ask Bella about that. It doesn't sound right."

"Jasper, are you questioning my party planning knowledge?"

"No, Mam. Not at all. Forget I said a thing. Please continue to tell me about this grand party."

I kept my mouth shut for the rest of the call, except to thank my wife again and tell her how much I loved her. Other than that, I was quiet and attentive as she laid out the details for Edward's un-surprise surprise party. I think Bella is the only one that's actually going to be surprised by it all! Alice was almost as excited as she had been to plan the wedding. It was going to be scary when we got home! Oh, well. Anything that makes Alice happy makes me happy too, even if I'm borrowing someone else's happiness!


	9. LionAround Jasper

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creations of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Edward, Emmett and Jasper head to Vegas for four days and three nights of gambling and fun.

**Lion Around**

JASPER:

Day three of four in Vegas. And what do you know, it's sunny! It's too easy to get bored when you're trapped inside. Just another three hours, forty-one minutes and twenty-six seconds until sun set. Twenty-four seconds now.

"Jasper, quit sulking and get over here," Emmett called. "I'm tired of killing Edward. Come give me some competition."

"Jasper, how about you send the big lug here a dose of modesty?" Edward quipped.

"Someone's a sore loser!" Emmett teased.

"Someone's just a loser!" Edward grumbled.

I could see where this was going. I sent them both a huge wave of calm. "We've avoided out right attacking each other and wrestling up to this point. Let's keep it that way. Besides, the room is too small. You guys will break everything in sight and Alice will end up calling," I fussed them.

"We're bored," Edward announced.

"You think," I snapped.

"No, not all, Jazz," Edward teased.

I grinned. How could I not! The ever uptight one was making fun before Emmett. "What do you suggest we do then?" I asked him.

"Grab Emmett's laptop and let's find something to do when the sun sets," Edward replied.

"We haven't spent much time in the casino," Emmett said.

"It's not as much fun without our powers," I told him. Edward nodded in agreement with me.

"We could always go visit Newton," Emmett teased.

"You go visit him and I'll go take a drive in the car," Edward replied with a smirk.

"Not on your life," Emmett said, pushing Edward over. "You are sticking with us."

Edward sat up laughing. I was amazed at how different he was now. Bella had changed him in so many ways. She had knocked down that damn wall he had hid behind for so long. He was more human than he'd ever thought himself capable of being. He still had a temper and he was still just as stubborn as ever, but he was open now. He actually lived in this life we had. He laughed so much more than we ever thought him capable. He had gone from running away from us to being among the first to reach out and hug someone, or touch a shoulder. Bella would probably never be able to understand all the changes she'd brought about within him. Even now, compared to a few months before our trip to New York, he was amazingly different. That crease in his brow that he would get every time someone mentioned his time away from Bella or the mutt's name was gone. The pained look in his eyes and the regret that would normally seep out of him were gone too. I wondered what Bella had done to cause that. I knew Edward would never say. I might have to ask Bella though.

That made me smile. Just the thought of talking to her in private was something to smile about. It hurt me every day that she was human that I couldn't have a real relationship with her. I can't describe the emotions that went through me when I nearly hurt her, or the ones that came later when she not only gave me complete forgiveness, but said she had never blamed me. These past months of having her as one of us, of being able to sit right next to her and not worry about hurting her … Bella didn't see herself clearly at all. She saw the danger she brought, but never the joy. She didn't see the positive things she brought with herself. Edward's complete emotional development, my current level of control, and the overall human feeling of our family – all those things were lost to her. She was modest to a fault at times. But not a single member of our family would ever trade her for anything in the world.

I watched Edward and Emmett playfully trade smacks to the back of the head as they snorted and snickered. It was like we really were just a trio of human brothers having a good time. I could feel the humor and the brotherly love coming off of both of them. It was pretty amazing. I wished Alice was here to see it.

My phone beeped and I pulled it out. It was a text from Alice. It was short and simple, but very sweet and very Alice. _Seen it! Love it!_ I chuckled to myself. Of course, she did!

Alice had made a special place in her heart for Edward the first day she met him. I take that back. He had a special place the first time she _envisioned_ him. Seeing him in person only cemented it. In the beginning, I didn't understand it. I couldn't figure out why Alice tried so hard with him when we could all see that Edward refused to be any different. I guess Alice always saw the potential in him. She was good at things like that.

"Before you two dislodge an arm or something, can we make some plans?" I joked.

Edward jumped up and grabbed the laptop from Emmett's room. He came back and plopped onto the sofa with it. "What should I look for?"

"Let's go to a show," Emmett said.

"Let's do something outside," I replied. "The last show didn't end too well."

"We could go do the coaster again," Edward offered.

"Maybe," Emmett said. "Oh! Hey, Edward! Do they still have the show with the guys who play with the tigers?"

Edward looked up the information. "No. The only animal related thing is a habitat at the MGM."

"What kind?" Emmett asked.

"Lions. You walk through a glass tunnel in the middle of the habitat and see the lions on either side," Edward explained. "The review says the lions are usually sleeping."

"They won't be if we go!" Emmett sang, jumping up and down.

"I don't know," Edward said. "It's a confined space. Someone might get hurt."

"How many people are actually going to be trying to walk through that at night?" Emmett replied.

"Emmett's got a point. It shouldn't be crowded. The humans would have gone in the sun to see the animals better," I said.

"Good thing we have excellent night vision!" Emmett chuckled.

"All right," Edward conceded. "We have a plan for tonight. What do we do with the next … how long is it, Jazz?"

"Three hours, nineteen minutes and thirty-two seconds," I replied. I realized what had happened. "Where you listening to me the entire time?"

"No. Should I have been?" Edward asked. "I only heard your countdown because you were awfully loud about it."

"Boredom," I said with a shrug.

"So what were you thinking about, Jazzy?" Emmett teased.

"None of your business, Emmie!" I quipped. He scowled at me. "Don't call me that if you don't want me to call you your name."

"Why do women always add a 'y' or an 'ie' to the end of the man's name?" Edward asked. "Why is it so funny to them to give us nicknames we hate?"

"Because they know they can get away with it," Emmett answered. "If either of you call me that, my instinct is to pound you far into the ground. When Rose calls me that, I just smile. What can I really do? If it makes her happy to call me that, so be it."

"I think it marks us as their's," I said. "They know that in our minds, no one has a right to call us that and get away with it but them. Besides, it's not like we don't have little nicknames that we only call them in private."

"How much longer until we can play with the lions?" Emmett whined.

"Three hours, four minutes and fifty-eight seconds," I told him. "Patience, Emmett!"

"Let's play truth or dare," Emmett announced.

"No," Edward said instantly. "We are in a hotel with thin walls and too many humans. All of your dares will get us in trouble."

"So let's play Secrets and Lies again," Emmett replied.

"That's boring," I told him. "If you want to know something, just ask!"

"Okay," Emmett shrugged. "Edward, how do you like not being a virgin anymore?"

Edward chuckled darkly as he stared at Emmett. "I bet you wish with every little muscle on your body that I would tell you."

"Come on!" Emmett whined. "You know Bella talks to Alice and Rose."

"Not about that," Edward replied.

"Pretty sure of yourself, aren't you?" I asked.

"You tell me," Edward quipped.

"Just answer me one question," Emmett said, looking straight at Edward. "Now that you know what things are like, would you have given in to Bella way before the wedding?"

"In regards to?" Edward replied.

"All of it," Emmett answered. I moved closer to be able to see Edward's face. I wanted the answer to this question too.

"I don't know," Edward admitted. "If I had some way to know for sure that she would be the same as she is right this second, then yes, I would have done it in the very beginning. But if there is the tiniest chance that altering the past would change her in any way, I wouldn't change a thing."

"I honestly didn't think you were going to answer," Emmett said. "Much less give a really good answer!" He reached over and tried to ruffle Edward's hair.

Edward pushed his hand away and smirked at him. "Can we get back to Halo now?"

By the time the sun had actually set, we were all pumped up with Emmett's excitement. We walked down the street and headed over to the habitat. There was a crowd still hanging around since the sun had set so recently. We walked around the area, waiting for the crowds to thin. We didn't want to get anyone hurt when the lions caught our scent.

Sometime shortly after nine, there was no longer a crowd. There were a few humans lingering toward the far end of the tunnel, but none that would be close enough to notice what we were doing or how the lions were reacting to us.

We made our way over to the tunnel, careful to stay downwind. Not that Emmett was trying particularly hard to be quiet. He kept snorting and snickering every few seconds. I swear! Sometimes the man was really a five year old! Edward was the composed, but I could tell by the mischief rolling off of him that he had a plan of some sort. Edward chuckled darkly as we entered the tunnel. Emmett and I both turned and looked at him.

"You aren't planning to try to eat one of them, are you?" Emmett teased.

"Nope," Edward said, making the word sound just the way Bella liked to say it. "But one of them has taken notice of us and he's not to happy at the moment." Edward looked down to the end where the last few humans were mulling around. With the way we were standing and how far down they were, we were in the clear. Edward crouched down low and hissed roughly at the closest lioness. She jerked away from the spot and ran to the far end of the enclosure. "That was an interesting reaction," he laughed. "She's rather skiddish."

"That's because you hiss like a girl," Emmett teased.

"Feel free to do better," Edward quipped, standing back up.

"I will," Emmett said, waving us away from the glass. He locked us with one of the bigger males and showed off his pearly whites. The lion didn't appreciate the challenge. He roared loudly and shook his head fiercely. "See how I did that?" Emmett joked.

"My turn!" I said, rubbing my hands together. I had intended to send out just a little fear and anger. Emmett decided to be a pain! He started thinking about his scores being lost on his video game and before I could stop it, I'd sent the lions all of his anger! The animals were on their feet and charging the glass in no time at all.

"Oh, shit!" Emmett said in a reverent tone.

"I don't know you too," Edward said as he started running for the exit.

The first lion hit the glass and I cringed. I didn't know how thick this tunnel was and I wasn't staying to find out. "Nice going idiot!" I yelled at Emmett as we ran after Edward.

Edward was waiting around at the end of the tunnel and fidgeting. "The security detail is on the way down here to see what's going on. We need to leave."

We headed toward the street at the quickest pace we could safely go without arousing suspicion. As we finally reached the safety of the street, Edward and I both reached up and smacked Emmett in the back of the head.

"Ouch!" Emmett whined. "What was that for?"

"What do you think?" Edward hissed.

"Well that sucked!" I said.

"They weren't even properly irritated yet," Emmett added.

"We can go back," Edward chuckled. "I'm sure the police would love to find out how we made those sleepy little cats turn into snarling beasts that tossed themselves at the glass."

I sighed. Tonight had certainly not gone according to plan. At least we weren't headed off to jail. "That's two close calls too many. We're staying in the hotel for the rest of this trip," I commanded.

"Let's just leave tonight," Edward said.

"No," Emmett replied, shaking his head. "We have a whole other day to this trip."

"Come on, Emmett," Edward coaxed. "You're just as bored as me and Jazz. Don't be stubborn."

"Well that isn't the pot calling the kettle black," Emmett fussed, putting his hands on his hips. Edward and I stared at him, looked at each other then fell on the sidewalk laughing. "What?" Emmett demanded.

"You can take the boy out of Tennessee …" I said.

"…but you can't take the Tennessee out of the boy," Edward finished.

We got up and smirked at Emmett. He scowled at his, clearly unhappy that we had found a way to tease him. "We aren't leaving tonight," Emmett stated.

"Don't you miss, Rose," I asked, pushing a little homesickness towards him.

"Yeah," he sighed. "We can leave around ten tomorrow. That's the most I'll give up."

"We'll take it!" Edward and I said together.

It was only a few hours difference, but it was more than enough to make a difference to us. All three of us were much happier when we got back to the room. Emmett swore us all to secrecy about leaving early. He was worried the girls would use our missing them to their advantage. I could have told him that was going to happen either way, but I let him have his fun. Just another half a day and I would be with Alice again, looking into those beautiful golden eyes of hers.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Thanks to WeasleyWeakness for the idea of putting them near animals. It would have been better to them go to Siegfried and Roy, but those guys don't do shows anymore.


	10. PhoneCalls3 All

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creations of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Edward, Emmett and Jasper head to Vegas for four days and three nights of gambling and fun.

**Phone Calls – 3****rd**** Night**

JASPER:

I had just closed the door of the hotel room when all three of our cells phones started ringing. "Uh, oh!" I said. "I think they know."

"This is why it's a bad idea to have a psychic sister," Emmett grumbled as he and Edward headed off to the bedrooms to answer their phones.

I imagined I could feel Alice's anger coming through my ring tone as I gingerly opened the phone and pressed it to my ear.

"Jasper Whitlock Hale!" Alice roared. "Just what did you three think you were doing? Who decided on this bright idea? I take one afternoon off after seeing that you boys are staying in the hotel and suddenly you're off taunting lions and nearly getting arrested! When you get home … I swear! Of all the irresponsible, idiotic, childish things to do! What were you thinking?"

"Hi, Alice."

"Don't you 'Hi, Alice' me! I want an answer!"

"It was all Emmett's fault. The lions were pretty much ignoring us until he decided to mess with me. If he wouldn't have pushed so much anger at me, then it wouldn't have gotten out of hand."

"I thought you were banned from your power."

"Emmett has the right to reinstate them at his whim."

"And here I was thinking that you were going to be the trustworthy one. The one who would keep those two in line!"

"Alice, it really isn't that big of a deal! We got away in plenty of time. We weren't really in danger of getting arrested."

"NOT. THAT. BIG. OF. A. DEAL."

I'd forgotten just how fierce Alice could be when angered. It had been a long time since I'd been this careless with my words. "That's not what I meant, sweetheart."

"Don't even, Jasper!" she hissed at me.

"Alice, I apologize. I take full responsibility for my actions. I should have convinced them to just stay in. Please forgive me."

"Do not leave that room until you are coming home to me! Do you understand?"

"Yes, dear."

"I'm not kidding, Jasper! If you step one toe outside of that door, you will regret it. And you know that I will know if you do!"

"Yes, dear," I replied. Alice sighed heavily. I knew she was trying to calm herself. "If it means anything to you, we only went because we were so bored without you girls. We actually tried to convince Emmett to let us go home to you tonight. But he's being stubborn."

"Is that really true, Jasper?" Alice asked in a very calm voice.

"I swear, Alice. I would never lie to you."

"It's very sweet for you boys to miss us so much. But you guys have to start thinking before you pull these silly stunts. It's one thing if we're there to talk you boys out of trouble."

"I know. I'll do anything you want to make it up to you when I get home. Even a day of shopping. I promise not to gripe at all!"

Alice giggled. "You really are sorry."

"Yes."

"What am I going to do with you?"

"Hopefully, forgive me. I wish I was home with you right now. Then I could look into your eyes and you would know just how sorry I am."

"I believe you, Jasper."

I sighed happily at those words. "Thank you, Alice. Do you happen to miss me at all?"

Alice laughed. "You're not really giving me a chance to! I've had to keep checking up on you boys so I already feel like I know everything you've done. And then to know that there are some things I've missed that you're going to come home and tell me about … you three are very scary when left alone together."

"I'm sorry, honey. I'm weak-willed. I succumb to the peer pressure of my brothers too easily."

"Don't even!" Alice chuckled. "You and Emmett did your fair share of tag-teaming poor Edward!"

"How is that I get yelled at and he's poor Edward. Don't you love me anymore, Alice?"

"Jasper, I'm going to tell you something a very wise person once said. 'What's love got to do with it?'"

"Who said that? And everything!"

"Tina Turner. And no! I said poor Edward because I know whatever your little secret is it involves him in some way."

"He helped though."

"Willingly?"

"Very."

"We'll see. I'm going to hang up now, Jasper. Do not give me a reason to call you back. I love you very much, but I will hurt you."

"I love you, Alice. I will be right here in this room until it's time to leave."

"Goodnight, Jasper."

"Night." I hung up the phone and fell onto the sofa. From the sadness and regret swimming around the room, I was pretty sure my brothers' calls were as bad, if not worse, than mine. We were in big trouble with the wives. We were going to have to use the car ride home to think up a suitable way to apologize. Only in our family could the statement 'What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas' be so very wrong!

**JAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJA**

EMMETT:

Jasper had just closed the door of the hotel room when all three of our cells phones started ringing. "Uh, oh!" he said. "I think they know."

"This is why it's a bad idea to have a psychic sister," I grumbled as I ran past Edward and into my room. I closed the door and looked at the little phone in my hand. Something so small was about to bring me a very big load of trouble. I sighed and opened the phone. It was quiet on the other end. Crap! It was going to be worse than I thought. "Hi, Rosie. God I miss you, baby. Have I told you lately how much I love you?"

"Emmett."

Okay. She was pissed. Joy! How to get out of this one? "Baby, I am so sorry! I tried to stop them! Jasper used his emotions against me and Edward helped him! I was just a casualty in this whole mess."

"Emmett, while I understand that you are in fact quite stupid, we both know that I am not. Start over."

I took a deep breath. "I got carried away with the lions."

"You think!" she hissed.

Big trouble! Major trouble! No sex forever trouble! Need to do some damage control here! "Baby, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for things to go so wrong! I was just really bored. Baby, you know how I get when I'm bored."

"You're in Vegas, Emmett! How the hell could you be bored?"

"We were trapped inside all day because of the sun. And being trapped made me think about you and miss you all day long. I wasn't thinking straight by the time we actually got to leave the room."

"Did you really think that line of bull was going to work with me?" she roared.

"Baby, I promise you, I am telling the truth. I miss you, Rosie. I wanted to come home tonight, but Jazz and Edward said we needed to stay for the whole trip since we don't get out together often. Maybe I should just disappoint them and come home to you." I normally didn't lie to Rose, but she needed time to cool off before I had to face her in person.

Rose sighed heavily. "No, Emmett. Stay there."

I was finally getting somewhere! I could do this! Don't blow it, Em! Just sound repentant. "Are you sure, baby?"

"Yes. It's not fair to punish Jasper and Edward because you're an idiot. But I'm warning you! Alice is watching and if you step one foot out of that door, you will have your own room when you get home!"

"I promise you that I will not leave this room until it's time to go home to you, my beautiful Rose. I'm sorry my behavior upset you."

"You're not nearly as sorry as you're going to be. You owe me, Emmett Cullen!"

"Anything you want, baby!"

"Emmett, you're halfway to forgiven. Drop the 'baby' crap!"

"Yes, Rose."

"What did you think you were doing?"

"I didn't know Jasper was going to send that much anger out. I was just trying to help. The damn lions were being all lethargic."

"I can't let you go anywhere without me! One night, you're jumping into a bay playing Pirate and the next, lions are nearly escaping to rampage the city."

"It wasn't that bad, Rose! That glass was thick!"

"It wasn't that bad because Edward had the sense to run! If you idiots would have stayed there, one lion would have broke through and let the others out."

"Really?"

"It's what Alice saw until Edward decided to run. You and Jasper owe him too!"

"For what?" I yelled.

"Lower your voice!" she hissed at me. "This is your fault. You don't get to yell. You owe Edward for saving your butts! You all would have been arrested. Normally, that's not all that bad of a thing. But your in sunny Vegas and when they would have pulled your sorry ass out to take you to your arraignment, you three would have sparkled all over the place!"

"Oh!"

"Oh is right!" she yelled.

"Rose, I'm truly sorry. It was all my fault that the lions got out of hand. Please tell Alice and Bella to take it easy on Edward and Jasper."

"Finally! The truth starts coming out of you."

"I was scared."

"You should be."

"Rose, I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?"

"I do forgive you, you big idiot. But you still owe me and you definitely owe Alice and Bella for freaking them out. You boys had better use your leftover time wisely. Think large apology and expensive as all hell! Got it!"

"Yes."

"I'm going to hang up now. Remember my warning."

"I haven't used up my hour."

"I'm not about to reward you for your behavior, Emmett. Take this time to think about what you did and how you're going to make up for it. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow night."

"Love you, Rosie. See you." I barely had the last word out before the dial tone was ringing in my ear. I had certainly put my foot in it this time. I sure hope Jasper and Edward had some ideas, because I had no clue how to make up for this one. I pocketed my phone and went to see if my brothers had finished their calls.

**ERERERERERERERERERERERERERERERERERERERERERERERERERERERERER**

EDWARD:

Jasper had just closed the door of the hotel room when all three of our cells phones started ringing. "Uh, oh!" he said. "I think they know."

"This is why it's a bad idea to have a psychic sister," Emmett grumbled as he ran past me, slamming the door to his room.

I ran into my own room and closed the door. I sat on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. I really hoped she wouldn't be panicked. I could handle her anger, but I didn't want her to be scared for me. I opened the phone. "Hello, love."

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen!" she screamed. Good! She was angry! Well, not really good, but better than the alternative.

"Yes, Bella?"

"Yes, Bella. Yes, Bella! You and I both know why I'm calling so why don't we just skip to the part where you explain just what the hell you were thinking!"

"Bella, we just went to see the lions. It wasn't supposed to get out of hand like that."

"I figured that much out for myself, Einstein! Why don't you explain what _did_ happen?"

"Jasper was trying to make the lions a little angry and fearful just to wake them up. Emmett sent him a whole bunch of anger and Jasper couldn't control it and slammed the lions with it. Hence, the animals attacking the glass."

"Do you have any idea what would have happened if you guys had been arrested? Or if those animals had killed someone? What happened to a quiet night in the hotel?"

"Which one of those would you like me to answer?"

"Are you being funny?" Bella hissed.

"No, Bella. I am honestly trying to talk to you, but it's a little hard with you being so angry."

"You … but … you!"

"Breathe, Bella!"

She took a very deep breath and I could hear her muttering slightly. She was calmer when she spoke again. "Edward, honestly, all of you just had us so worried. One minute, we're having a great time and the next Alice is so mad she can't even speak! Do you have any idea how scared I was waiting to find out what was wrong?" And then it happened, the one thing that I dreaded and tore my heart. She sobbed.

"Bella," I said softly. "Bella, please calm down. I'm so sorry that I made you worry." She didn't reply. "It was stupid and childish and we weren't thinking. I'm really sorry. This isn't an excuse or anything, but we were bored after being inside all day. We just weren't thinking." She sniffled, but still didn't speak. "Would it help at all if I admitted something completely embarrassing to you? Something that Emmett and Jasper would never let me live down if they heard?"

"You can try," she sniffed.

"I killed the battery in my Ipod by playing your message and song in a constant loop. That's how badly I've been missing you."

"I don't think you've missed me that much if you're risking getting arrested."

"Bella," I sighed. "I have missed you terribly every second that I have been away from you. I swear to you that if I had any idea that it would lead to this much trouble, I would have stayed here in the room. I would have found some way to get Jasper to help me tie Emmett down and make him stay too."

She giggled and relief flooded me. "I don't think they make a substance that will keep Emmett tied down."

"Bella, I'm so sorry. Please say that you'll forgive me."

"Do you know what Alice saw happening if you hadn't run off?"

"No, love."

"She saw the lions getting out and hurting some people. She saw you guys getting arrested. And then the arraignment on Monday when you would all be led out of the jail and then everyone would see you guys in the sun."

"That explains the frantic calls," I mumbled.

"Don't you think we had a right to be frantic?"

"Yes, love. I certainly do. I'm very sorry we scared all of you. Please tell Alice and Rose how sorry I am. But just so you know, Bella, if we had been arrested, I wouldn't have let us get seen. I would have found some way out of it. I would have found some way back to you."

"Just promise that you'll stay in the room until you leave for home!"

"I promise you, Bella. I swear it!"

"Thank you." Her voice was very soft and sad. I was feeling like a real jerk.

"I asked Emmett if we could leave tonight. Jasper asked too, but Emmett is making a big deal out of us using the entire time."

"It's okay. You should stay and enjoy what's left of your trip. Especially since when you get home, you aren't leaving me again for a long, long time."

I laughed. "As you wish, Wife."

"Edward, what happened? You're so much smarter than this!"

"It really did happen so fast, Bella. It was all innocent fun until Emmett pushed Jasper. As soon as I saw what was happening, I took off."

Bella laughed. "Alice saw that part! She said you looked like someone had set you on fire!"

"What else did Alice say?"

"She said she was going to kill Jasper, kill Emmett twice over, and ring your neck."

"Why did I get off easy?"

"Because you ran. She said you were the only one to show an ounce of sense."

"You still haven't told me yet."

"Told you what?"

"If you forgive me."

"Of course I forgive you, Edward. I love you too much not to."

"I love you, Bella. I'm sorry for upsetting you. I miss you."

"Just try to remember all those things you just said and stay in your room."

"I will remember. Other than my rude behavior, how was your day?"

"It was okay. We watched more movies. We had a couple of really good pillow fights. Alice won them all. She swears she's not cheating."

"We'll have to get you some close contact training when I get home. I can't have my sisters beating you with pillows while I'm away."

"Close contact training?" Bella giggled. "Edward, did you just make that up?"

"I might have traded 'combat' for 'contact', but the essence is there."

"You're one sneaky vampire."

"I love you, Bella Cullen."

"I'd tell you to stop, but I'm enjoying you sucking up to me. You'll still owe all three of us when you get home."

"We will make amends. I promise."

"Well, I have to go. Your bad behavior has cost us the full hour of your nightly phone call. Alice's first punishment for all of you. Be Safe. I love you."

"Isn't that my line?" I teased.

"I'm not the one irritating lions in Vegas!" Bella chuckled. "Stay in your room."

"I will. I love you. See you tomorrow."

"I can't wait."

"Neither can I, love." I heard the click that meant her beautiful voice would no longer be echoing through my ear. I sighed heavily. This night had gone far different from the way I had pictured it.

"Edward!" Jasper called.

I walked out of the room to find him and Emmett on the sofa. "Did you both?"

"Yeah," Emmett sighed. "Big time."

"We need to make amends," I stated.

"That's why we called you. We need to think of a way to make up for this. We'll need you to convince Carlisle that Bella will be safe with just us," Jasper said.

"That will be a piece of cake once he finds out about today!" I said sarcastically.

"Go to Esme then," Emmett shrugged. "You are her favorite and she would do anything for Bella."

"Okay, let's say I get permission," I said. "What then?"

"Something big," Jasper mused.

"Something that screams forgive us and we're not worthy," Emmett added.

"Something that shows how much we love them and would do anything for them," I said. Now, we just had to figure out what would fit all of those things.


	11. BadNews Emmett

**DISCLAIMER:** The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creations of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Edward, Emmett and Jasper head to Vegas for four days and three nights of gambling and fun.

**Bad News**

EMMETT:

Three more hours until we head for home and face the wrath of our wives. But for now, I was right in the middle of kicking Edward's butt at Halo. I had just started firing at him again when my phone rang. I kept shooting at my brother with one hand and whipped out the phone in the other. "Yellow!"

"Emmett, listen closely and pay attention." Rose's voice was frantic. Nothing ever ruffled Rosie's feathers. I dropped the controller and sat up straighter, paying close attention to her every word. "There isn't time to repeat any of it. Demetri is on his way to the house. He's following Alice with his gift. He should be here in about forty-five minutes. Bella and I are hiding in the mountains where Edward took Bella for their date. Carlisle and Esme are staying with Alice. The story is that Bella and Edward are on a get-away and you, me and Jasper are in town. Get home now!"

"Are you okay, Rose?" I asked. Her tone worried me more than anything. She was always so composed. I glanced up to see Edward pacing the room and pulling at his hair. This was not going to be pretty. Jasper was trying to calm him, but Edward just growled at him.

"I'll be better when you're home," Rose replied. "Please hurry, Emmie!"

"Edward's already figured things out from my thoughts. Let him talk to Bella just so I can get him calmed down," I said. I passed the phone over to Edward.

I could hear Bella on the other end. "Edward?"

"Bella!" Edward cried in relief. "Are you okay?"

Jasper and I started running around the room, packing our bags up. We had to get home right away. We couldn't leave them home alone with that creep. Edward had told me some of the guy's thoughts from when they were in Italy. This could be a very bad situation.

"Rose is with me. Please hurry home," she said.

"Edward, get them to put their phones on vibrate so we can stay in contact without alerting Demetri," Jasper ordered.

"Do you have your phone with you?" Edward asked.

"Yes," Bella replied.

"Tell them we'll send messages every half hour to check if they're together," Jasper stated.

"You and Rose need to put your phones on vibrate so that we can send you text messages without alerting Demetri's hearing. We will send you both messages and wait for your replies every half hour so that we can be sure you're still together," Edward explained.

"You're a genius, Edward!" Bella seemed to be a little more relaxed.

"Ed, we have to go now!" Jasper ordered.

"I have to hang up now, Bella," Edward said sadly. "I love you."

"I love you too. Please hurry."

Edward closed the phone and his shoulders sagged. Jasper tried to calm him again. I could tell it wasn't going to work. I walked up to my brother and grabbed him hard by the shoulders. "Edward! Stop! She's with my Rosie and you know she'll be protected. The sooner you get yourself together, the sooner we can get out of here."

Jasper's phone beeped. He opened it up and looked at us. "Text message from Alice. She says to buy a sleeping bag for Edward and a shirt for Rose."

"Why does Rose need a shirt?" I asked.

"Doesn't matter right now," Jasper replied. "We just need to do what Alice says."

Edward nodded. "We need a plane."

"Commercial will be too slow," Jasper mused.

"Private. We've got plenty of cash on us. We can buy ourselves a pilot," Edward said.

"That sounds like a good plan. You and Jasper get the bags in the car. I'll check us out and turn in the key. Meet you out front," I said, already half way out of the door.

All of the human contraptions seemed to be moving too slow. I wanted to take the stairs, but without Edward, I might run into someone. I impatiently tapped my foot while I waited for the elevator. As soon as the door opened, I jumped in and hit the lobby button. If that piece of scum touched my wife or my sister … my fists were clenched as I tried to contain my rage. What the hell were the Volturri doing showing up unannounced at my home?

My thoughts turned to Edward and my rage melted. He was going to blame himself, I just knew it. He would blame himself and never trust leaving Bella alone again. For all the fun we'd had and as much as he'd relaxed and actually spent time with me and Jazz, it was all wasted now. Some days, I really hated that my brother was such a masochist.

The doors finally opened onto the lobby. I ran over to the desk as fast as I could. "I need to check out."

"I'll be right with you, sir," the lady behind the counter said, not even looking up at me.

"Lady, I have a family emergency and you need to check me out now!" I said a little louder than I intended.

The lady glared at me, or I guess that's what she was trying to do. "I will be with you in a moment."

I decided sympathy was in order. "Listen, mam, I'm sorry for being loud. We just got a call that my new sister-in-law was in a very bad accident. She might not make it and we're trying to get her husband home to her so he can say goodbye if the doctors can't save her."

The woman gasped and rushed over to me. "I am so sorry. I didn't realize. What's the name?"

"Cullen. We were in the Grand Lakeview Suite," I told her.

"Just hand over the key and I'll finish all the paperwork for you," the lady said.

"Thank you, Mam. God bless you," I replied, already running toward the front door.

The car was there waiting. I jumped in the back. Edward was tapping his fingers against the wheel, waiting for an old couple to move out of the way. As soon as they were clear, he stomped the gas and flew out onto the street.

"Edward, we don't have time for an accident," Jasper warned.

"I know what I'm doing," Edward growled.

"Save the hostility for Demetri, would you?" Jasper snapped. "I get that you're worried for Bella, but our wives are there too."

Edward growled from deep in his chest and stared hard at Jasper. "Do you honestly think for one second that I am only thinking of Bella? Those are my sisters and our parents!"

"I didn't mean that, Edward," Jasper said in a calmer voice. "I'm just having a little trouble controlling the emotions in here."

"It's fine," Edward said stiffly.

"No. I was wrong to say that to you," Jasper replied. "I know that you and Alice are very close and that you would do anything you could to protect her. The same for Rose."

Edward's grip on the steering wheel tightened. It was a wonder he hadn't broken it off yet. "Edward, you need to relax," I warned him. "You're about to rip the wheel off."

"I can't relax! We've left them all defenseless!" he yelled while looking at me in the rearview mirror.

"Hold on just a minute!" I roared, leaning forward toward him. "Don't you start that crap! You might be faster and I might be stronger and Jazz here might be able to calm a room, but don't underestimate the rest of our family! Rose can rip into a person pretty damn easily. Alice practically can't be touched. Esme is a damn fine fighter when she has to be and believe me, for Bella, she will be! And Carlisle is a leader. He's got nearly as much of a tactical mind as Jazz does. Bella might not be as tough as the rest of us, but she has a mind like no other. If she can't fight, she'll find a way out."

"Emmett's right," Jasper said softly, trying once again to calm our brother.

Edward relaxed his grip on the wheel and lowered his head some. "Okay."

"Okay, what?" I asked, wondering why he was suddenly so much calmer.

"Okay, I see your point," Edward sighed. "While this is far from an ideal set of circumstances, at least it's only one guard and I do know that our family will keep each other safe until we get there."

"So you are capable of being sensible," I chuckled, patting his shoulder.

"I just can't believe they're going through this alone after what we put them through just last night," Edward said.

"Whatever apology we come up with is going to have to be twice as good now," Jasper muttered.

We didn't seem to have anything to say after that. I watched Edward as he pushed the rental car to the limit to get us to the private air strip as fast as possible. I knew that with the amount of money we had at our disposal, it wouldn't take us long to find a pilot willing to get us to Anchorage. When we got to the strip, I went around and told my sad story until I got a guy to agree to fly us out. It wasn't the fastest plane at the strip, but it would be quicker than commercial. It would just have to do.

Once we got to Anchorage, we grabbed the Volvo and headed to the mall to complete our tasks from Alice. Edward appeared calm on the outside, but I could tell he was pretending. He drummed his fingers on the dashboard in a hard staccato motion the entire time we waited for Jazz to come out of the mall. As soon as Jasper had one foot in the car, Edward was speeding away from the store. By the time we hit the interstate for home, Edward was driving the Volvo hard enough to break it and he loved this damn car. Jasper had given up trying to calm him long ago. The only thing that would calm him at this point would be seeing Bella with his own eyes. Rose was going to have her work cut out for her when this was all done.

Jasper and I talked in low whispers, trying to leave Edward alone. "What do you think we should do when we get there?" I asked.

"Best to just let Demetri have the lead. We don't want to give anything vital away. Bella needs to appear like your everyday normal newborn. Any sign at all that she's different will give Aro the excuse he wants to show up. I'm sure Carlisle realizes this and has warned her."

"How do you think he got past Alice?"

"Probably waited until the last second to make a decision about looking for Bella. It will be a good advantage to us if he still can't find Bella with his gift."

"How so?"

"It will be further proof that nothing has changed about her from when she was human."

"Jasper, you are the man when it comes to this type of stuff."

"I wish I didn't have to be. I was hoping the Volturri would forget about Bella. It would mean that they would also forget about Alice. When she went to Italy … for all her sight, she doesn't see just how much Aro wants someone like her."

"She sees. But she couldn't let anything happen to Edward."

"I know. I know she made the right choice in going."

"But you love her enough to wish she wouldn't have."

Jasper nodded his head. I didn't need his gift to know that he was worried for her. "It's time to send them another text," he announced loudly.

"We should send them something that will make them smile," I said. "How about things we're good at? Edward, you can send Bella 'piano' and I'll send 'singing' to Rose."

Edward snorted. "That will only confuse them! Rose isn't going to consider your singing something you're good at."

"Then what would you suggest o' stiff one?" I teased.

"How about wrestling?" Edward offered.

"And for the second one?" Jazz asked. He was in charge of all the cell phones for now.

"Food?" I asked.

"Okay," Jazz replied. "That will be 'lion' for Edward and 'bear' for you."

"Send them Jazz!" I said.

We waited for a while and then got the replies from the girls. I looked over the seat at my phone which had things that we were good at. Bella replied 'falling' and Rose replied 'everything'. "Yep! That's my Rosie," I said happily.

Jazz showed Edward the phone and he snorted. "The girl is absurd."

"Yeah, but you love her for it," I teased.

"That I do," he sighed.

"What are the answers on Ed's phone?" I asked.

"I'm confused," Jasper said, staring at Edward's screen. "Why would Bella say lamb? How would she know if she liked a lamb?"

Edward roared with laughter. "She misunderstood!"

"Obviously!" Jasper laughed. "And she passed that confusion on to Rose! Her answer is 'Goddess'."

"Wait!" I said. "What does Bella think 'lion' and 'bear' meant?"

Edward snorted again. I was so glad Bella had made him laugh. I was seriously becoming concerned for his sanity earlier. "She thought we were asking what creature are they most like," Edward explained. "The first time we were together alone, I compared myself to a lion and her to a lamb."

"Edward, I love you, man, but you are one weird dude!" I said, clamping him on the shoulder.

We stopped about twenty miles from the house and parked in the woods. Jazz sent out the final text messages to the girls before handing our phones back to us. We weren't sure if they would understand after the last confusing round of texts, but it didn't matter. We would be with them soon. Edward grabbed the sleeping bag from the trunk and took off to find Bella and Rose. Jasper and I would be waiting here in the car until Rose showed up. The car was a lot less tense with Edward gone.

"What do you think, Jazz?" I asked.

"I think I'm going to have a very long week," he replied, rubbing his temples. I thought of Rose, of times we had just hung out in the garage or walked through the forest, trying to send Jasper some peace. "Thank you, Emmett. Don't worry. I won't tell anyone you were nice to me."

I laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "They wouldn't believe you anyway!"

I climbed out of the car and stood leaning against the hood. I was scanning the forest for any sign of my Rosie. I nearly fell over laughing when I saw her! She was running toward me in my Halo t-shirt! It was floating on her petite frame. She smiled as she saw me and threw herself right into my arms. I held her tightly to me, kissing her temple.

"How's my girl?" I whispered.

"Perfect," she purred into my ear.

"Rosie, I love your outfit."

"You weren't supposed to see it," she sighed.

"Don't worry," I soothed her. "I didn't see a thing. Why don't you go to the trunk and change into the shirt Alice had Jasper purchase for you?"

"I love that pixie!" Rose sighed happily.

I knocked on the roof of the car and Jasper hit the button for the trunk. I stood near Rose while she changed her shirt. "You really okay, Rosie?" She nodded her head. "Squirt holding up okay?"

"She was so happy when she smelled him coming," Rose mused. "They'll be fine. I know I blamed her for a lot when she first came along, but … we can't have anyone take her away. It would break up our family."

"Then let's get on the road and get home to make sure she's well protected," I said, taking her hand and kissing the back of it. I opened the back door and Rose slid in. I followed her. She lifted an eyebrow at me. "I missed you. Sue me!" I pulled her into my arms and kissed her cheek. "Get us home, Jazz."

Jasper smiled and started the car up. He spun the Volvo around and got us back on the road. We were home in just a few minutes. Rose grabbed the pretend shopping bag from the trunk and we headed into the house.

Alice met us at the front door. "Finally! You three took forever! I was starting to wonder if I would have to go fetch you all."

Jasper pulled Alice tightly against him and held her for a long moment. I nudged him in the shoulder, reminding him that we were being watched. "Shopping's boring without you," Jasper said, playfully pushing Alice away a little.

"Children, we have a guest," Esme announced. We did our best to seem surprised.

"Demetri," Carlisle called. "These are my sons Emmett and Jasper and my daughter Rosalie." Demetri nodded towards us. We did nothing. "Demetri has come from Italy to see Bella and Edward."

"Are they home from their camping trip?" Rose asked, looking up at Esme. My wife was a great actress.

"Not yet. Alice says we should expect them any moment now," Esme replied.

"Oh, Jazzy!" Alice said sweetly. "I was getting ready for a game night, but now we have a guest. Would you mind terribly putting the games away for me? I want to compare the shirt Rose bought today with the one I got Bella the other day and see which one would be best for tonight."

"I don't mind at all," Jasper said, staring at Alice intently.

"Let's go up then," Rose stated, pulling Alice along by her arm. Rose gave me a look I knew well. I was to follow.

"I'm going to head up and change my shirt," I announced. "Some human sprayed cologne on me at the store. It stinks."

I followed up after Rose and Alice. I headed toward my room and the girls. When I got in there, they had a shirt ready for Bella. I didn't question them. I knew Alice had some sort of plan. I quickly changed into a new shirt then sat on the bed, waiting to see what would happen next. That Demetri guy didn't look so tough. I could take him easy if he messed with any member of my family. He did give off a really creepy vibe though. One little excuse! That's all I needed and I would gladly rip his damn arms from his shoulders.

The front door opened and then we heard Esme's voice. "Welcome home, children! Did you enjoy camping, Bella?"

"Very much," Bella answered. "Edward taught me some of the constellations."

"I think we will need to get her a telescope soon," Edward added. I watched Alice zoom out of the room.

"Taken with the stars are you?" Carlisle asked.

"Bella!" Alice squealed. "You must come upstairs with me right away. Rose and I went shopping for you while you were away! You have to see what we got you!"

Alice and Bella ran into the room. I was happy to see she didn't look scared. She smiled at me and Rose. "Where's Jazz?" she asked.

"We were planning a game night tonight and I had yanked them all out of the closet downstairs before our guest arrived," Alice said, winking at Bella. "Jasper was kind enough to offer to put them all back."

"Bella, you simply must try on the shirt we bought you," Rose said, waving at her. I closed my eyes as tightly as I could. I did not want to see my little sister! "Perfect!" Rose cooed. "Edward will love this on you."

"Let's go show him," Alice said, patting me on the back. I opened my eyes and smiled at the Squirt. Alice pointed at me and Bella and I could tell Bella was figuring it out.

"Hey, Em! Feel up to giving your little sister a piggy-back ride?" she asked, lifting her hands up to let us know she was confused. I chuckled at her while Rose and Alice smiled.

"No problem, Squirt!" I said proudly. Bella climbed onto the bed and I scooped her onto my back.

"Aro will be pleased to see that you've kept your word, Edward," Demetri was saying as we came out onto the landing.

I brought Bella down the stairs and over to Edward, keeping her out of Demetri's line of sight. Demetri stood near the television, smirking for no good reason. I wanted to wipe that damn smirk off his face. Ruin my vacation and freak my brothers out! Damn vampire pain in the … calm thoughts, Emmett. Find your calm thoughts. Can't do anything unless he does something first. Think of Rosie. I dropped Bella right into Edward's lap and then sat near Rose on the arm of the sofa. I wanted to stay within striking distance if this creep moved toward Bella.

"Ah! There is the lovely Bella," Demetri said. His voice was annoying. "Aro will be so pleased to know how much your transformation has enhanced your beauty. How are you coping with your new life?" Every word out of his mouth seemed to have a double meaning for him. It was disgusting. I hoped this guy would be leaving quickly. I didn't know how much of him I would be able to stand. This guy was worse than Newton could ever wish to be. I think I'd even take one of the mutts over this guy.

He smiled in a weird way as he looked at Bella. It was in that moment that I swore I would never let that guy spend a single second alone with my baby sister. I didn't trust him one bit. I would just be keeping my eyes on him. For his own sake, he had better plan on leaving soon. Oh, well! At least Vegas had been fun. With any luck, we could get rid of this guy and Edward wouldn't beat himself up too much. I'd have to talk to him and Jasper about our next vacation. I was thinking somewhere tropical and secluded. Maybe we could finally get around to wrestling some sharks. For now, I had a creepy vampire to watch.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Hope you all had as much fun with this as I did!

Thanks to everyone who gave me ideas!

If you want to know how the boys made everything up to the girls, check out Chapter 49 & 50 of My First Year as a Cullen.


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